Overcoming The Whirlwind!

This week more than ever or since I can recall in a long time, I got caught up in the Whirlwind in ways I could not have imagined. It felt more like the perfect storm really.

My wife reported back from her job last week Friday, from the Pregnancy Resource Center where she has worked the last 13 years, were immediately in the COVID-19 shutdown, quarantine protocol. This was triggered by a dear husband and wife team, regular volunteers at the center testing positive for the Corona virus. Okay, not so bad. She was scheduled to be tested on Monday and the results to be available within 72 hours. That meant by extension I would not be able to report back to my office until Thursday. No problem. The contingency plan put in effect is that our weekly meetings which take place every Monday will be kept, to stay on top of things. Oh, but we had a team member effectively going on vacation on Friday. Still no problem, I had planned for this. Now I was not going to be in the office but can work from home remotely, use Zoom, still address emails and everything else as normal. So, we are still good. The innovative plan for blended learning implementation is moving along with the rest of the team, which is split across Houston and Brazil.

Then my Surface Notebook computer quit on Monday! Now things are getting a bit dicey. Training classes are still underway, which are the prime responsibility, the whirlwind that MUST get done. The importance of addressing the Wildy Important Goal (WIG) of the blended learning implementation, and my role in facilitating and managing the process so that the deliverables for this week still gets done suddenly was in jeopardy. I  had to jump through hoops to get an older personal desktop ready which took 2 days (long hours) of software upgrades to a state of usability and conferencing with my IT department to finally be able to remotely log in and collaborate with my team. That was so tiring and energy depleting.

Now, did I forget to mention, I am part of the DLL program, and have not yet participated in this week’s 4 discussion. I thought seriously about missing out on this, as I really needed to just decompress. Then I watched the videos about “The 4 Disciplines of Execution”.   My professor has always said do not wait until the last minute to submit your work, but quite honestly, I thought about settling this time around due to the “justifiable circumstances”. That would be good enough, isn’t it? “But I was reminded in the video that “The enemy of the great is the good” (Jim Collins). The text talked about learning how to tell influential stories (Influencer, pg. 100). Specifically, the quote,

“Over the years I have become convinced that we learn best – and change – from hearing stories that strike a chord within us… Those in leadership positions who do not grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves.” (John Kotter)

In learning how to tell stories, this is my own that I can tell with conviction. Because I am living it. And I believe so strongly in the principles I am learning as they have certainly struck a chord with and in me.

Oh, by the way, my wife’s test came back negative and so too were the reports of the entire staff at the Pregnancy Resource Center. I got a new laptop and am feverishly working on my assignment submission deadline before Sunday August 9, 11:59 pm.

References

Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., Switzier, A. 2013. INFLUENCER: THE NEWSCIENCE OF LEADING CHANGE.  New York: McGraw Hill Education

Franklin Covey, April 2012. Executive Overview of The Four Disciplines of Execution. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZR2Ixm0QQE&feature=youtu.be