I drive all the time. I’m in my car for a rather lengthy commute each day, and I go to our many pizzeria restaurants. I enjoy being in the car. It gives me a chance to think and enjoy music and podcasts, and I love getting out of my office to see people. I wish I could say that driving all the time was calming and not frustrating, but that wouldn’t be true. Like most people, I think every other person is not as good a driver as I am. That probably isn’t true because I’m sure I frustrate others too.
This Sunday I was heading to church early. It’s a simple, five to seven-minute drive all on roads that are a mix of residential and retail. To make the small drive you go through several traffic lights. On this day, I hit EVERY red light. Every. Single. One. There wasn’t an abundance of traffic around me to slow things down. It was just a matter of timing. I had left my house early enough that I wasn’t significantly delayed. Also, since I was going somewhere I enjoy, I wasn’t frustrated by the constant stop/start journey. I giggled after the fifth red light and knew it was just going to be one of “those” trips.
Hitting all of the red lights made me think about work. I know that may sound a bit odd but stick with me on this. As we start every day, we have the hope we’ll have a smooth trek with few obstacles. We yearn for the opportunity to dive into what’s in front of us with the desire to not experience any unexpected stops. It’s okay if we choose to stop, but we don’t want others to interrupt what we’re focusing on. Our ideal never occurs. Ever.
Each of us has the “commute” I had on Sunday morning. We hit every red light out there. They aren’t all in one line either. At times, red lights pop out of nowhere, but we still have to stop. When this is what we go through, we get frustrated. We don’t understand why there’s this endless series of starts and stops. We also think this is ONLY happening to us (just like other drivers are bad – not me.) The truth is the red lights are affecting the traffic of work throughout your organization.
Instead of having your blood pressure rise and your stress level increase, let’s look at those red lights differently. The reason traffic lights exist is they are meant to control the flow of traffic so everyone can move about safely. They may feel like they inhibit you from reaching your destination in a speedy manner, but they may have helped you avoid an accident you didn’t anticipate.
It’s okay to have starts and stops throughout your day. It gives you a chance to interact with others, seek context on what you’re doing, or be a resource for someone else. We won’t be able to have a seamless excursion during our work day. If we’re as integrated as we should be, then we should expect we’ll be in thick traffic all the time.
This week change your view on the red lights you’ll hit. See how they help you monitor the flow of what comes up. At each stop, take a breath and see what’s next. I’m sure you’ll start enjoying the pace you find yourself in so much more !!
