‘The Middle of The Big Mess’

‘The Middle of The Big Mess’

A few years ago, I had a few business transitions I knew I needed to make, but I knew it would require going through a bit of, well, ‘messiness’.

As I was sharing with a friend about dreading doing what I needed to do, she responded (without as much empathy as I was seeking), Ali, in the middle of a surgery it looks like murder. Even if you know it’s going to save that person’s life, it’s a bloody mess.’

After a brief pause, I burst out in laughter, and it gave me the instant shift in perspective I needed.

That phrase has stuck with me for years. I’ve used it time and again to remind my clients there’s often no way out but through. And it’s been heavy on my mind this year, as we see the world we knew of just a year or two ago implode around us. 

Within a span of mere months, entire systems and institutions we grew up with and relied upon are breaking down or being transformed in an intense way.

It’s all getting turned on its head, and ‘we the people’ are bearing the brunt of the disruption.

While there is light at the end of the tunnel, and a good side to some of what’s happening now, our own ‘light’ is needed to see this through. And a bit of a wakeup in more ways than one.

I am not here to tell you what to think, but I AM here to tell you that it’s critical right now you think for yourself. I see too many people ‘sheeping’ along with the herd, and not actually deciding to look up and notice what’s happening, let alone make some good decisions. 

There are so many ways I could go with this article, but my ‘lane’ is to provide a few important observations on what is happening around us, and what to be thoughtful of in the future, for your business, yourself, and your family. Because there’s so much to cover, I’m going to make this a multi-part article

(By the way, because a few have asked about my views, I’ll share I’m a bit of an American without a political home. I’m not allegiant to a single party. If you’d like to hear a bit more about my take on all this, have a listen to this episode of my podcast.)

Disruption isn’t new.

(In fact, if you want to hear from THE experts on disruption, make sure you follow both of my friends Charlene Li and Whitney Johnson, who have also been recent guests on my show.)

But let’s look at areas where disruption has been dramatically agitated and/or accelerated over the past year...

1.    Specific businesses, companies, professions, and jobs are disappearing or being dramatically reinvented, still as I write this. We all witnessed in the last recession that companies—especially big, traditional corporations that move slowly—were not prepared for any changes. Even when they saw the tech wave coming, it appeared they just kept their noses to their desks and kept implementing the same business plan they had from 10 years prior. Then they acted like they were totally caught off-guard. 

We’re seeing more of that this year. But we have seen many businesses that truly were caught off guard. Sadly affected are many small businesses that rely on in-person patronage, such as restaurants. And then there were others that seemed infallible, but still got blindsided this year. 

2.    Healthcare is a mess. It already was in many ways—especially here in the U.S.—but this year showed how vastly unprepared our system was for situations like these. You can't argue with that. There were some areas that were better prepared, but many were not prepared at all. 

3.    Our educational model as a whole, which has not changed much since its initial design for the industrial age well over a hundred years ago, is being questioned now... from grade schools to universities. (I personally pulled my twins out of the system this year to do it ourselves, as I wasn’t happy with the options offered. I never thought we’d be those ‘homeschool’ parents, but here we are!)

I guarantee you’re going to start seeing this more at the collegiate level as well. For example, I have some good friends who were excited to send their son to a renowned private university he was admitted to. And even though the tuition was a real stretch for them, they believed the experience and connections of the school would be worth it. But based on abrupt changes at the school, they are now questioning the value of the high price tag. During a dinner together we had a great discussion on what higher education used to represent, how it’s changed, where it’s going, and... if it will even be worth it in the future.  

4.    Institutions of public safety such as our police are being disrupted, rethought, and reworked. Specific events have come to light forcing us to question their role, and considering if changes are needed to the way they’ve been run for decades.

5.    Our personal rights as citizens are being encumbered in ways we haven’t seen before; at least in my lifetime. Every area of our country and the world has responded to the pandemic at different levels of mandates and restrictions—some draconian and others less so. But around the world we are witnessing that governments are getting accustomed to a new level of power over their people. And people becoming used to acclimating to instant orders.

And—I have a bit of bonus information for you—are you ready? 

There are powerful planetary transits occurring at this moment. And I mean really powerful. I asked a good friend of mine who is an expert in this area to offer some insight, and I found this fascinating: She shared that current transitions are creating incredibly turbulent energies—ones that haven’t been matched since about 500 years ago

And what happened during that time in recorded history? Flash back to your history classes... German monk Martin Luther broke away from the then all-controlling Catholic Church, setting into motion what would become the worldwide Protestant Reformation. 

Think about that historically, what a huge event that was at the time. Deciding to break away from an institution that basically controlled everything. And the energies we are experiencing now are purportedly even more intense. 

So, if you haven’t added it up already, the similarity between that time and our current time is the breakdown of outdated and/or corrupt institutions. 

And the main theme this year... besides 2020 simply being a giant dumpster fire (as one of my clients aptly called it back in May)... is it’s time for YOU to lead your own charge. 

I know that may sound like it was lifted from a personal development seminar. (I’m not going to ask you to high-five me now.) But this stuff is real. So let’s break this down to what all this adds up to.

All these previous ‘systems’ that told us how to be and what to do, and taught us to depend on them, are being demolished... each in their own way. 

But there is such good news in the end for all of this that I can’t wait to share with you. 

Agility will win. We will win. And as a business owner, you’ll actually be in a much better position than ever before... if you go through this mess in the right way. 

Watch for Part 2 of this article in the next newsletter. 

>>> QUESTION: What other areas of disruption are you seeing or have you experienced? What do you feel is the light at the end of the tunnel? Please drop me a note below!

An online presence is now a must for many businesses.

Corinne Maunder

Health and science filmmaker helping you simplify complex scientific ideas for your audience

3y

Hello from the world's strictest lockdown in Melbourne, Australia! There certainly is a whole new level of power over the people here. Three weeks to go until we receive some of our personal freedoms back... Thanks for you thoughtful insights Ali, both here and on your podcast, which have helped me lead my company through this season and prepare intelligently for the imminent upswing ahead (the upswing for those who are prepared, that is!).

Marcus LaPointe

Dad | Facilities Professional | Space Industry Enthusiast | Cleaning Industry Patron | Ghostwriter & Affiliate Marketer

3y

Ali, I'm looking forward to the next part of this series. I would say I see the same kinds of patterns forming and history will repeat itself from time to time. I loved the surgery analogy. I will be using that somewhere. I think having a growth mindset has helped me adjust to the situation and like you we also decided to keep our kids out of the mess of the public school system. Unfortunately that meant we decided for my wife to stay home for this year for the kids. We think it was the best choice we ever made together. It was nice to be in charge of our lives and not wait to others to decide. Keep it going, Marcus

Dan Strakal

Certified Live and VILT Master Trainer - Certified Change Management Practitioner - Management Consultant/Coach - Senior Instructional Systems Designer

3y

Right on point Ali. Way back in 1970 Alvin Toffler wrote in "Future Shock": “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." To me, this directly correlates to the ability to have the agility to flow with changes. Another aspect that you touch on is the classic curve of change, i.e., a system starts - steadily grows and succeeds as the best processes are discovered and improved upon (LEARNS) - has a highly productive growth curve - and then - "something" happens to impact the system. A financial downturn, new laws/regulations to restrict what the system does, increase competition, etc.. It's at this key time when the system (whether it is a business, a relationship, a nation, a civilization, etc., needs to recognize what is happening and UNLEARN what it has been doing and then be agile enough to RELEARN what needs to be done. Systems that do this then move to a new higher order of being. IMO, a change is an event that occurs. The resulting transition is dependent upon decisions made about that change, and the transformation to a new higher order of being often only occurs via the route of pushing through to the other side. Really love your and your friend's historical perspective as well. As you stated, there are certain points in history when major social changes occur and the ripples they set off span future centuries. There seems to be a pattern, almost like how nature changes the seasons to refresh and renew the world. I'm guessing before humans arrived on the scene there was a universal and planetary order in place that created worlds. Once we evolved to sentient beings we became quite arrogant thinking that the planet and universe were there to serve us. But actually (IMO) the reserve is true: We are here to serve the planet and the universe. I think this is the reason for the 500 year transits occurring. They are analogous to the seasons changing to bring order out of chaos and renew and make everything more viable - a cleansing if you will. Your points above tie all this together: 1) Vast changes are occurring at a rapid rate; 2) The saturation of change is overwhelming to most people; 3) It takes an iron will to recognize and then act on going through something to get to the other side; and it requires extraordinary agility and energy within one's mind, body and soul to adapt as necessary to survive initial changes and then to thrive during the resulting transitions and transformations. What's most interesting and fun to me is that when these major shifts occur, there seems to be a rendezvous of like-minded people who are eager to discuss and share ideas about these shifts. And I for one, do not think that is a coincidence. Rather, I believe it is part of the fiber needed to tie such shifts together and to carry them forward into the future.

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