The New Crop: Issue #24
"Different ways to cope with bees and wasps" (and change in general)
What’s in this issue:
💭 Thought: “Different ways to cope with bees and wasps” (and change in general)
📚 Read: The 5 Stages of Team Development
😆 Today’s Laugh
Which are you: a “Wafter”, a “Stay Stiller”, or a “Total Panicker”?
💭 Today’s Thought
I’m going to riff off of the comedy skit ^^ for today’s thought (if you haven’t watched it yet, I encourage you to take a quick break and let yourself laugh!)
The skit jokes about how we exhibit three different types of responses when a bee flies into our space:
To casually “waft” it away and continue on
Stand totally still
Panic (aka run and scream)
I know I know, this is just a comedy skit… but it got me thinking about how these responses apply to life in general…
Let’s imagine that the bee represents any disturbance, nuisance, or unexpected change. How do you typically respond?
Do you casually make adjustments, and then carry on (aka “wafting”)?
Do you “stay still”, i.e. become paralyzed or afraid to act?
Do you panic? (ex: try to hide, enter into a state of chaos, spend a great deal of time catastrophizing)
Do you do a combination of these, or something entirely different?
For me, I’ve noticed that I tend to panic when changes happen in my personal life, but “waft” when changes happen at work. As you reflect on your reactions, try not to pass judgement on them; we’re just observing patterns and data and there’s no right or wrong.
From awareness comes choice… once you’ve pinpointed how you react, you can decide how you’d like to act in the future. Ask yourself:
How does this reaction benefit me? What do I get from it?
What does this reaction cost me? How might it hold me back?
Given the benefits and costs, how would I like to react going forward?
We can’t choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we react.
📚 Today’s Read
The 5 Stages of Team Development
In 1965, Dr. Bruce Tuckman came up with a model for the 5 stages of team development that still hold true today. Which stage is your team in? What activities and support might be useful to your team based on where it’s at today? Find out in the article.
See you next week!
xo,
Anne