'We are all equal before a wave.' - Laird Hamilton, professional surfer.
If I were sitting on a surf board next to Laird Hamilton on a calm sea, we would look the same. Both of us would be floating effortlessly on our surfboards. Things would change quickly as the wave we were seeking to ride began to approach. Laird is a professional surfer and I have never once stood up on a surf board. Laird would take the disruptive force of the wave and turn it into something to marvel at as he glided across the water. But, the disruptive force of the wave would demolish me.
Disruption enters into our lives like a wave and we can handle it like a professional surfer, or we can be overwhelmed by it. Here are a couple of important insights on disruption:
1. Disruption is not necessarily bad or good, right or wrong. A new boss, moving, or a change in an policy at work are not wrong, but they are disruptive. The disruption brings the discomfort of something new but it does not mean they are wrong. Stop acting like the world is out to get you just because something has changed.
2. There are some great books on how to handle disruption that I recommend. These will help you to frame disruption when it comes your way. 'Disrupt Yourself' by Whitney Johnson, 'In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day' by Mark Batterson, 'Grit' by Angela Lee Duckworth and 'Disrupting Class' by Clayton Christensen (specifically for educators)
3. If it is not clear by now, it is not the disruption that matters rather how you handle the disruption that matters. While your mind is probably racing to the big, life-changing disruptions (like a pandemic), I'd encourage you to think smaller. The unexpected feedback from a colleague, the new boss, a child that wants to transfer college, or a massive delay on the completion of a new project are a few examples of disruptions that we all face regularly.
'Whatever we do well now, will come back to us ten-fold when it is all over.' I said that a lot to the people I was leading during the pandemic. Why would I say this? Because the more disruptive the situation, the greater the opportunity to do something significant. Maybe it is better stated, the bigger the wave, the greater the opportunity for the surfer.
Today's post is about our natural reactions to disruptions big and small that ruin our chances to ride the wave. The two natural reactions that come to my mind are discouragement and distraction and here is how I believe we need to handle both in order to make sure we don't miss riding the wave of disruption.
DISCOURAGEMENT - We often associate different with bad and discomfort with wrong. None of us like change and all of us make hundreds of decisions a day to maintain our comfort. The unintended consequence of this is that disruption discourages us because we react to it as if there is something wrong. It is ok to feel discouraged. It is not ok to act on that discouragement. Back to the surfing analogy; if I were staring down an approaching wave, I would likely have a small panic attack and bail quickly. While that might be the right choice for my surfing career, it is very likely the wrong choice for most disruptions in my life. Do not act on discouragement! Ride disruption like a wave!
DISTRACTION - The other very immediate reaction to disruption in our lives is distraction. We have a vision for our life. We have goals. We feel confident in the influence we want to have on our families, businesses, or ministries. Disruption arrives and it distracts us from these well-established, important priorities. Through some experiences in my life, I have learned that disruption is when you double down on these goals and priorities. Disruption can be a catalyst to very important things, IF you can maintain your focus. Disruption is the big wave and your are the surfer. Stay focused!
I'll close with a line from one of my favorite poems. I'm not a poet or even a big fan of poems, but there are some important people in my life that had a big influence on me and poems like this hung on the walls in their classrooms, locker rooms, or in this instance, my childhood garage. This poem, by Rudyard Kipling, hung in the garage of my childhood homes. I often looked at it and as the years went past, I grew to appreciate it. My father, an educator, would often quote the line in bold to me when I was discouraged or distracted. It rings my ears when disruption arrives in my life. I hope it rings in your ears too.
'If' by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, and yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; if you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken, twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, and stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings, and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings, and never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew, to serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you, except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, if all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute, with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is
more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Keep on, keeping on, friends!
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
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