Is disruption bad?

Notice the question I’m asking isn’t: “Is disruption a comfortable thing?” Or “Is disruption an easy thing?” Nope. That’s not the question. This question is aimed at looking into the nature of disruption, and considering that experiencing, it might not be a binary construct.

My friend Phil Cass, who worked more than 35 years as CEO in different businesses and local government, reminds me that disruption has information in it. If you can get past the discomfort, or even the shock, there is a wealth of information to be had.

This week I’ve been speaking with Peggy Holman in advance of our online conversation coming up next Tuesday. She told me that all change starts with disruption, and she’s allowed her curiosity about the gifts of disruption to lead her on a quest to identify the juice that can be found in conflict and the secret sauce that helps people navigate conflict to make potent change.

This curiosity led to publishing THE CHANGE HANDBOOK, a guide that pulled together the most significant work on Group Facilitation in its day and has led to a burgeoning field of practitioners.

Last week I sat in one of Bob Stilger‘s calls in support of people experiencing the fires in Spokane, Washington. Natural disasters are disruption on an overwhelming magnitude. There is shock, trauma, grief, and despair that comes alongside such a disruption. There is a gravity to this kind of disruption that lasts.

Here’s what I wrote as a comment on his recent post https://lnkd.in/p/eHucfvPq: “The magnitude and scale of dramatic loss is overwhelming. I had a mini version of that when I returned home in July and walked down a street I love which had been lined with blossoming trees when I last saw it in April. This time when I walked down the street I could see construction equipment, and the trees were simply gone. I stood on the street and cried. Their loss was physical.”

And finally, I’ve been reading a small book my brave and beautiful friend Rumi Shivaz wrote on his journey through clinical depression. He calls it THE PRICELESS GIFT. He says: “it ultimately imparted insights that have fundamentally reshaped my perspective on mental health, personal resilience, the nature of advice, the complexities of the brain, and the very fabric of the human condition. These insights, forged in fire, are among the core components of the paradoxical ‘priceless gift’ that this ordeal bestowed.“

Whatever its nature, all of us are facing disruption at this moment. One of the biggest questions all  these threads raise in me is how we can stay in practice together to help each other stay afloat, stay conscious, and look for the gifts hidden in the challenges.

Call me if you’d like a listening ear or some practical support.

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Join us for Peggy Holman’s Origin and Evolution story – Tuesday 1 September 10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern/1900 CET. More information and registration here: https://beehive-productions.mykajabi.com/offers/gNPnkMQo/checkout

Full series here: https://beehive-productions.mykajabi.com