Embrace those perfectly imperfect days! Step away from that โwoe-is-meโ cry when things donโt go to plan! Itโs important to foster a solution-focused attitude rather than wallowing in despair.ย I know itโs easier said than done, but with a few techniques and ideas at the ready, youโll become more adept at dealing with days that are far from perfect. Lindsay Taylor, Director at Your Excellency Limited, shares the learnings from an imperfect day in her summer column…
Take my day yesterday as an example.ย As I sipped my early morning coffee and smiled about the promise of a gorgeous summerโs day whilst I switching on my laptop. I was greeted by a recommendation to refresh, followed by a menacing loop of error messages. I felt a sense of foreboding that this was not going to be a perfect day.
Then I took a call from a business colleague, who up until now had been eager and enthusiastic to partner with me with. There had been no indication that the hours we had spent pulling together a mutually agreeable MoU document did not match their overall strategy. They announced, with much apology, that they would not be signing said document.
In the words of the Walliams aka Carol Beer in his Little Britain sketch โcomputer says noโ โฆquickly followed by โcolleague says noโ โฆ..quickly followed by me groaning โnoโ with my head in my hands.
What can you learn from an imperfect day?
Enough of the sob story though. Pack away your violins readers because Iโm not writing this for sympathy, In true Lindsay fashion, Iโm ready to learn from yesterday and share it with you as I muse the graphic below and embrace the challenge of a perfectly imperfect dayโฆโฆ
Fact. We all have days that donโt go to plan.
Fact: We all face disappointments, change and upsets (of varying degrees)
Yay! I feel better already stating those two obvious factsโฆ.. we are all connected in a mutual camaraderie of perfectly imperfect days then.
Things like these can happen to any one of us. A colleague of mine arrived for a business meeting wearing her comfy airplane travelling clothes (tracky, trainers) after her suitcase containing her smart work outfit had been incorrectly labelled and was winging its way to a different destination.ย And another colleague who, in the throes of orchestrating a major office move, also had the challenges of a daughter with glandular fever. And that wasn’t all as her elderly mother fell and needed an emergency operation on her broken wrist.
Fact (make sure youโre listening to this bit โcos this is important!)
How we respond to these situations has an impact and it is our response that defines us
Iโm all for advocating for the importance of goal setting, being clear about what you need and want to achieve, as outlines in my SMARTER goal setting column. I firmly believe that the key to happiness and success is flexibility. Flexibility in our thinking and our behaviour when our plans donโt go to plan.
Last week I delivered training to a group of EAs and Office Managers. The cohort was to emphasise the value they add to their organisations and how their effectiveness and efficiency, or lack of it, have an impact. Following on from the discussions, we drew up โimpact cascadesโ.
Impact cascades to help with learnings from imperfect days
Negative Impact:
For those visual learners, think dominos lined up. When one domino falls it will result in them all falling.
Example: If you donโt make a great success of dealing with customer queries the impact could be
Unhappy customer
You lose customer as they take their custom elsewhere
Reputation damaged (company and yours)
Loss of business and revenue
Consider my laptop situ then. Had I responded with negativity โ spending my day groaning โnoโ head buried in hands the impact could have gone something like this:
I feel fed up.
Iโm giving off negative vibes
Iโm not doing anything to solve the situation, to make it better and move on
My husband gives me a โwide berthโ as I glower at himโฆ.(as if it is his fault!)
I crash around the kitchen making tea and squish the teabag with such force it tears and I have a black swirly mess of a drink to pour away and start again
My to do pile remains undealt with as my laptop screen flashes menacingly at me recommending a refresh
Quick! Letโs move away from this negative impact cascade and the clatter of dominos falling!
Positive Impact
For those visual learners (and fellow lovers of champagne) think a pyramid of beautiful empty crystal champagne flutes. Now, imagine pouring champagne in the top glass and that energy, sparkle and effervescence cascading down with a full glass for everyone to share.
If you make a great job of dealing with customer queries then the impact could be
Happy customer
Repeat business
Customer recommends you/your company โ new business
A feeling of satisfaction that youโve done a great job โ boosted confidence
Reward and recognition from your team and manager (increased responsibility for you, a step up the career ladder, a financial incentive?)
Increased revenue for business
And so on โฆ
So, my laptopโs unwell.
I research what โrefreshโ means
I find the licence number for reinstalling Microsoft Office
I check through my to do list and identify what tasks I can do without the need for a laptop. I dig out a gorgeous notebook and take to pen and paper to jot down some notes.
I smile (‘fake it til you make it’)
I make myself (and my husband who looks suitably concerned at the situ) a cup of tea leaving it to brew in the pot for perfect tea strengthโฆ.
So โ gold medal please โ yesterday I orchestrated my own positive impact (albeit I admit that I did groan โnoโ once.)
I picked myself up, dusted myself off and carried on.
Yes, the day was less than perfect, but my response most surely was.
Now please excuse me whilst I reconfigure Outlook.
