News (and some pics) on my reboot

Corporate culture or martial arts: Transitions are hard

I had a really interesting conversation this morning about some of the challenges facing companies in the transition to the post-COVID world (which we haven't quite reached yet). That reminded me of one of my first lessons in martial arts: transitions are the toughest, and most dangerous.

Taking a stance is easy. It's the movement from one position to the next that is difficult. In t'ai chi, those transitions are where the self-defense aspects are found. In kendo, it's in the movement towards your attack that you are at your most vulnerable and in boxing, once you drop your guard to throw a punch, that split second opens you to a counter.

Right now, companies in particular and society in general are at exactly this kind of transition. A lot of people are going back into the office and in the last 18 or so months, corporate culture has changed. We have gone from attending events in person to logging into online video sessions. Sure, we get the content, but we lose that whisper to our neighbors to clarify something we just heard.

Now that we are re-opening slowly but surely, it is going to be vital for companies (and each individual person) to find the right way back to what we used to have, without losing what we have gained in the last 18 months.

What does that have to do with my reboot?
When I decided to take this step, a lot of people told me I was making a mistake, that it would be too hard to find a new path. I disagreed for two reasons: 1.) I believe in myself and my abilities and 2.) I figured with the rest of the world in transition, I might as well go into a transition phase of my own.

The key is...
In martial arts, if you hesitate during a transition, that is where you get hit. I just have to make sure that I continue on my course and I think if society and companies do the same (meaning move forward, with all lessons learned from past mistakes well in mind), things will work out in the end. And if they have not worked out, it is not the end.