Smed Talk: Session 1

Welcome to the first in the series of Smed Talk, brought to you by Zest Learning. For our first session we're going to talk to you about 3 things beginning with A.

The Unknown World

Let’s focus on three key words beginning with A.

Ambiguity It’s really important for all of us to think about the fact that ambiguity is a pretty tricky phase for humans at the best of times. Typically, we know day to day what our lives and days are going to be like, with real certainty around some elements. So to be in a permanent stage of ambiguity is tricky to navigate.

Cling to the allies and the mentors, the people who are there to support you. Get out of the virtual world for those relationships and pick up the telephone and have real conversations about how you’re feeling and what’s really going on.

It’s important to avoid procrastination and distractions that can happen at this time; our heads are in the sand, which might provide a bit of light relief for a moment but if you find yourself permanently in distraction or procrastination mode, you need to jolt out of that. Watch out for your own internal nemesis at this time and what that internal chatter and dialogue will do to disrupt when we’re in this sea of ambiguity.

Adaptability Stephen Hawking (a smart guy) said that intelligence really is about those who can adapt and change, and this is being tested on a daily, hourly occurrence for most of us right now. So think about the new ways that will emerge once this phase of change has passed, and it will pass. Where are the benefits? Where does it challenge our thinking and how surprised are we at what we are able to achieve and are achieving right now in this climate?

Assumptions Within uncertainty our search for knowledge, answers and solutions are on overdrive and in the absence of the knowledge, we can start to replace facts with ideas that we put in there ourselves often to fuel our own fears. By doing this continually, we can make some big assumptions that can take us down some very wrong paths so be really aware of those assumptions that are going to come out, particularly at this time.

To summarise, speak to people who can really help you and be your authentic self during that time.