Have you been walking, riding in your car, or riding your bike and spot ONE blue reflector in a very random spot on the road or in a parking lot? When I saw one recently, I thought about randomness and how it impacts the workplace, especially if you are in a leadership role.
- You may hire a great new employee because at that moment, they walked in the door, you got that referral, or they clicked on your job ad. The right person at the right time for the right job could just be because of a random event.
- The weather changes constantly. It impacts attitudes, outlooks, and moods. It impacts business – negatively and positively.
- Events occur that bring people (customers) to you or take people away from you – vacation times, travel times, construction, local events, traffic pattern changes. These events may only impact you directly or indirectly, e.g. a decision-maker you need to reach is temporarily unavailable.
- Events in employees’ lives impact how they focus on work or not. It impacts whether they are emotionally stable and engaged in the work they are doing. Major life events are a huge distraction to productivity.
- And of course, there are many other examples of random ups and downs that impact you as a leader.
Here are some things you can do to better cope with the unexpected:
- Be flexible. Bend without breaking. Modify your approach when circumstances change.
- Minimize your negative reactions. Quick reactions may be good if they are positive reactions that help you effectively cope with the situation. Laughter is good medicine in the face of chaos.
- Check in to your moods. If you are impacted by a lack of sunlight, do something to energize yourself – walk around, engage in conversation, go outside (with an umbrella if necessary), drink coffee, change what you are doing more frequently.
- Plan for the down times. When you and your team are less busy, have a to-do list ready. There are always things you have put on the back burner than need your attention.
Randomness, ups and downs, and chaos will always be a part of life. Despite this unpredictableness, you need to remain positive and to keep moving forward.
“Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature.” – Eric Hoffer
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