"This beginning has been quietly forming..."

Morning at Bucher Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley, CA. This image and this newsletter are inspired by “For A New Beginning” by John O’Donohue. Photo Credit: Kevin Jordan

Greetings -

I hope you, your families and friends are well and enjoying the remaining days of summer! My wife and I are basking in the beautiful, sunny days, fresh fruit from the yard and the generally relaxing environment that is my wife's family home in Inverness, CA. Our nest is a little emptier this time of year, as our lovely daughter continues to chart her collegiate path. Her love of learning and adventure propel her to new, different and exciting heights. 

As the new school year signals the transition from Summer to Fall, change is certain. What is not certain is the nature, degree and volume of change that will manifest in our professional and personal lives. This edition explores micro and macro changes re: the nature of work, how we work, the range of people we work and collaborate with and what we want our role(s) to be. Change is also looked at through the lens of "optimal quitting;" how do we reduce friction and not succumb to what economists call the 'sunk cost fallacy' or what organizational psychologists call the 'escalation of commitment?' Finally, if and when can we leverage fear to instigate change and how can that potentially moves us forward?

We owe it to ourselves to start asking the questions.

As always, happy reading and listening!

Be well, take good care of yourselves, families and community.
-kj

PS - (Missed a newsletter? Past editions can be found here: https://www.kevinjordan.coach/blog. And if you hit paywall on an article(s), feel free to send me a note and let me know what you need. I have subscriptions to many of the sources that I cite.)

Featured: The Real Reason People Won’t Change, by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey

This foundational piece looks at the psychological underpinnings of what prevents us from realizing the changes that would benefit us and our work. Kegan and Lahey examine the concept of "competing commitment," the internal resistance that can lead us to say we want to make a change, yet fail to do so for any number of reasons. This reminds me of the concepts of positions versus interests; we have positions that often belie our true interests (the iceberg visual accurately represents this: positions are found above the surface and interests are found below the waterline). Our effectiveness at work will be constrained if we cannot identify and effectively come to terms with our competing commitments.

"Resistance to change does not reflect opposition, nor is it merely a result of inertia. Instead, even as they hold a sincere commitment to change, many people are unwittingly applying productive energy toward a hidden competing commitment. The resulting dynamic equilibrium stalls the effort in what looks like resistance but is in fact a kind of personal immunity to change...[Our ability to support our teams is predicated on] understanding the complexities of people’s behavior, guiding them through a productive process to bring their competing commitments to the surface, and helping them cope with the inner conflict that is preventing them from achieving their goals."

Articles 

Harvard Business Review: Why Dropping the E in DEI Is a Mistake. "Removing equity is not progress, it’s regression. We are at a critical juncture in our society where the possibility of losing significant ground on civil rights gains are an imminent threat. If we want to create a more perfect union, then we must always keep equity as a cornerstone value in our organizations. Now more than ever is not the time to retreat or redefine DEI, but rather accelerate our support for DEI initiatives. It would serve us well if [the Society of Human Resource Management] SHRM and other organizations take heed." [Here is the LinkedIn article written by SHRM President Johnny C Taylor re: the organization's pivot to Inclusion & Diversity (I&D).]

Knowledge At Wharton: Is DEI Going Away? Here’s What Experts Say. "Wharton, Harvard, and INSEAD brought academics and industry leaders together to discuss the complex challenges facing DEI and what’s getting in the way of change."

The Wall Street Journal: Can You ‘Unboss’ Yourself Without Ruining Your Career? "Managers want to shed the headache of running a team without losing pay and power."

Harvard Business Review: Constant Change Is Rewriting the Psychological Contract with Employees. "Growing employee dissatisfaction in the workplace can be explained by the likelihood that 'psychological contracts' between employees and organizations — the implicit mutual understanding of each side’s obligations to the other — in many companies still reflect a past in which change was intermittent. ... [I]n a time of continuous change, these contracts will need to be revisited."

Harvard Business Review: Research: People Still Want to Work. They Just Want Control Over Their Time. "As many organizations continue to wrestle with how to structure work policies, now is the time to figure out how to grant employees control over their time in ways that can motivate them to do their best work, and experience greater satisfaction in both work and life. In our research we found that employees who have greater control over their time tend to be more satisfied with both their work and their lives. This suggests that work arrangements that grant employees more control and flexibility may not only improve employee well-being, but may also help employers retain the top talent they’ve been struggling to keep."

The New York Times: So, Human Resources Is Making You Miserable? "Get in line behind the H.R. managers themselves, who say that since the pandemic, the job has become an exasperating ordeal. “People hate us,” one said."

Blog Posts & Opinions

UChicago Magazine: Optimal quitting. "An economist’s advice on when to fold your hand in favor of the next opportunity."

Pocket: An Economist’s Rule for Making Tough Life Decisions. “A good rule of thumb in decision making is, whenever you cannot decide what you should do, choose the action that represents a change, rather than continuing the status quo.”

Seth's Blog: The four cohorts of the status quo. "Change happens when the fourth group can create the conditions for the third group to care, and then these two groups move the urgency up the agenda."

Podcasts

WorkLife with Adam Grant: How to Rethink a Bad Decision. "In life and work, we have a hard time changing course. When we wind up in a miserable job, a failing project, or a floundering romantic relationship, we rationalize, make excuses, and stick with our bad decisions—even when the writing's on the wall. Why? Usually we assume the driving force is sunk costs: we don't want to admit we've wasted that time or money. But in fact, the root of our stubbornness is a psychological trap called 'escalation of commitment.' Once we understand that, we can start taking steps to protect ourselves from… well, ourselves."

Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman: Jimmy Iovine: Harness fear to drive innovation, parts 1 & 2. "To innovate, you need to build an instinct to smash through barriers — especially the ones that terrify you. Music industry legend Jimmy Iovine has done this throughout his career working with legendary artists like John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, and Dr. Dre, working in innovative tech like Beats Electronics and Apple Music, as well as in his groundbreaking work educating the next generation of creatives."

Arts, Music, Culture, Literature & Humor Corner

Smithsonian Magazine: Meet Vivian Maier, the Reclusive Nanny Who Secretly Became One of the Best Street Photographers of the 20th Century. "The self-taught artist is getting her first museum exhibition in New York City, where she nurtured her nascent interest in photography."

The New York Times: Mavis Staples Is an American Institution. She’s Not Done Singing Yet. "After more than seven decades onstage, the gospel and soul great decided last year that it was time to retire. Then she realized she still had work to do."

The 19th: How the Sports Bra kicked off a women’s sports movement. "When Jenny Nguyen opened The Sports Bra in 2022, she started a movement: Bars that only show women’s sports. Now, fandom and pay are rapidly growing — and it’s time for the Olympics."

The New Yorker Fiction: Up the Stairs. "Granddad had apparently taken the bus quite a distance and walked very far that day, to reach a certain apartment building."

The New Yorker: My Failure Resume. "Please see the attached C.V., a meticulous rundown of all the diplomas I lost, the jobs I lost, the jobs I never got, and the cultural references that I never got, either."

Reflections

"To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest."~ Pema Chödrön

“It is easy—maybe too easy—to stop asking yourself what would make you happy, and stay close to the things that you think will make you safe. This is wrong, and I will tell you why: you are never safe. Loss and change are constants. You will never be safe, and you may not always be happy—but you owe it to yourself to start asking the question.”~ Sady Doyle 

"In this short Life
That only lasts an hour
How much – how little – is
Within our power"

~ Emily Dickinson