“Very little is needed to make a happy life, it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking” - Marcus Aurelius
I was in a meeting today with a client. We are working on a 3 day event. It’s pretty straight forward in many ways. Just needs some attention to detail for final important touches.
As we worked through the final touches the person helping us catastrophised every single detail. It was incredible to experience. Maybe because we were on Zoom it felt more prolonged. Maybe because it was the very last thing of the day it felt like hard work. But. Every question was met with a negative response, even when the answer was yes.
Q-Can we have tea and coffee outside the room so people can get it before the even starts?
A-The Boardroom is next door, the leadership don’t like people in the corridor, there isn’t anyway else, it’s badly designed, people are always hanging around and it causes a lot of problems and complaints for people in other meeting rooms, but luckily no one else is using the floor those dates so yes.
You get the vibe?
I do not blame the tired facility coordinators for these responses. It’s product of bad leadership. Leaders who believe their own hype over creating a good environment to work.
But it did strike me that this poor person was a bit stressed. And worse, didn’t need to be. It was an unknown choice. No one was helping her to see there could be a different way of thinking that could make life a bit better, a bit easier - with very little change!
It was not the moment to suggest such a thought. We all said goodbye and hurried off to our next busy thing.
So when is that moment?
When is the moment for a little thing to help us make a big change?
eleanor