Mental Backpack
Queer Eye, Enoughness, and Fun
This time of year reminds me of the finish line at the NYC marathon. Some people are sprinting through and smiling for the cameras. Others are dragging themselves there. And some of you heroes are even hobbling to the finish line in crutches at 9:30pm.
Not sure which one you are, but wishing you the year-end version of one of those shiny marathon blankets and a good nap when you get there.
FOR THOUGHT
Every night, I cut up an apple, mix some honey into peanut butter, and sit down to enjoy an episode of Queer Eye. The routine brings me so much pleasure that I referred to it as “party time” to my husband last night.
Not sure how I got this cool.
ANYWAY, if you haven’t watched the show, the idea is this group of five queer experts work with some kind of local hero to help them get their groove back. It’s usually someone(s) who does a lot for their community but has wound up in sweatpants along the way. The experts help them with home design, fashion, beauty, culture, and food. By the end of the week, they’re glowing as the best version of themselves. If you’ve watched it though you know it’s so much more than a new haircut. It’s a real transformation in how the person values themselves and therefore shows up in the world.
It had me thinking… wouldn’t it be cool to do… wait for it…
Queer Eye for the Working Guy ?!
(or other non-gender-specific rhyming word)
Have you ever been in a team that was doing its best but was kind of… struggling? burnt out? questioning its value? generally not having much fun?
I’ve been dreaming about what it would look like to have a fab 5-esque SWAT team come in to bring that team back to life. It doesn’t escape me that this is kind of what consultants are paid to do, but so much of consulting is targeted at some specific business challenge. Unfortunately, we often we pinpoint problems that aren’t really the root cause. I truly believe that if we could make people feel alive in their work so much else would fall into place—the vision, the alignment, the creativity, the impact.
Which brings me to… who would the experts be? Maybe…
+ Someone to redesign the physical office space and digital collaboration tools
+ Someone to rethink working hours, meetings, rituals
+ Someone to help them remember they actually (hopefully) like each other
+ Someone to give them some team branding and design to help their work shine
+ Then honestly makeovers are fun too…
What else? What kind of expert would you want to come in and revitalize your team?
The thing about Queer Eye is that the hero does a lot of emotional work that week, but also, they’re already kind of tired. It’s not a complete “teach a man to fish” situation. As much as I’m a fan of enablement in consulting, I’m also a fan of James Clear’s thinking around new habits: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” And therefore, a totally valid theory of change is to help a person or team set up new systems and see what confidence and behavior and results emerge from them. Or in other words, the client doesn’t need to be an expert in planning and meeting design, they just get to enjoy showing up to efficient meetings and ending work at a decent time.
Wouldn’t that be so fun?! Feel more human and alive at work in one week?
Oh, and if any of you work for Netflix… please consider this my pitch : )
FOR ACTION
For today and tomorrow, I want to gift you one word: ENOUGH
There will always be reason to push a little harder and “finish the year strong”. But more than we think, it’s up to decide when enough is enough. We’ve pushed enough. Finished enough. Given enough. Made enough.
So when the time comes to start shutting down work for the year, declare:
Close enough! Good enough! Enough!
Same for that last exercise class or run of the year.
And the last quest to keep your house clean.
The last gift to buy and note to send.
You’ve been enough.
It’s enough.
ENOUGH!
p.s. Is it just me or are you also now totally reading that word as “ee-no”?
FOR FUN
See you in the new year, friends!
Bree
All I want for Christmas is to make work a little more human and fun. And maybe a few shares/restacks?