Camaraderie Amidst Chaos

One day last week, I was at a place of business that's closing at the end of this month. My mission there was to deliver a program on Change OR. To get the program rolling, participants were invited to "draw" or "make marks" on a piece of paper to depict how they were doing "right now, this day, this moment." On that same piece of paper, they were encouraged to select no more than five words to use as descriptors for their creation. After several minutes of art work, one by one, the group presented their work and shared a story about their drawing.

It was a sad, happy, wonderful, hard, painful, joyful, tough, and insightful experience to say the least. Emotions all over the place and after the tears and grumbles and angst, I heard laughter and smiles and witnessed camaraderie and closeness among a group of people who had worked together for several years. You could tell how much they trusted each other, and how much they genuinely cared about one another's well-being.

One of the most special (and unexpected) things to evolve out of the program happened purely by accident. When we were discussing what was ending, what was over and who was losing what (William Bridges Transition Model), it became apparent that one of the "things" that they were going to miss the most was each other...who will listen to my whining? who will call me on my crappy attitude? who cares more than you? who will tell me straight up? who will laugh at my stupid jokes?

Bottom line, it was agreed to by all attendees that starting January 5, 2009, they would take turns getting together at each other's home on Mondays from 10:00 A.M. until 12:00 noon for two purposes: 1. to provide continuity in staying connected in a committed, structured way and 2. to support one another until all had found new jobs. (Meeting times would be subject to change -- down the road -- to accommodate schedules.) The person hosting the event will be charged with "The Lesson" of no more than 20-25 minutes which will focus on some aspect of finding new employment, along with some good snacks aka comfort food.

Endings, uncertainty, unknowns, chaos, turbulence, confusion, changes, wondering, transitions, starting over, finding, asking, learning, searching, waiting, anticipating, seeking, hoping, questioning, leaning on each other...until...

posted by: billiesucher

Comments

[Larry Butts]

This sounds like a good idea, but I can’t see it happening except in extremely rare cases. I think the worst thing you can do after a dislocation event is to hang around with former associates. There is too much possibility of staying locked in the past, thus inhibiting movement into the future. Finally, getting advice and counsel about finding employment from unemployed people is generally not a good idea.

[billiesucher]

Larry, thanks for making a comment and taking time to share your perspective. With this particular team, staying connected is simply a great strategy because it works for them and the payoff is that they will support one another, share ideas, etc....however, as you point out, there are circumstances where this type of activity may not be conducive to moving forward, especially if people are negative and bring others down instead of uplifting them. Bottom line, I am a raving fan of doing what works, taking action, and staying open to possibilities until the next gig comes along.

[Larry Butts]

Yes, there always needs to be an outside the box mentality associated with a job search. I encourage anything that enhances positive attitudes and pushes individuals out of their normal comfort zones.

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