PIVOT…SHIFT…ADAPT…PAUSE

PIVOT…SHIFT…ADAPT…PAUSE

I saw these four words in a tweet the other day, and I have probably seen them more in print in the last three months than I care too.  While sitting in “another” Zoom meeting this week, I probably spent more time thinking about them then paying attention in the meeting (sorry to admit that Mr. Wagner)

PIVOT, SHIFT, ADAPT, and PAUSE…these four words have become standard operating procedure for many of us in our professions, homes, workplace, and families…and really, they are part of who we are and where we are at this point in history. 

PIVOT

The action of pivoting; turning on or as if on a pivot

As an old basketball coach, a pivot brings to mind the pivot foot…once you establish your pivot foot, you have to make something work for you.  A slash, a pass, a shot, a turnover…but there is no going anywhere else.  You are in that spot to do your thing until you make a decision.  Unfortunately, I think many of us establish our “pivot foot” and end up stuck in that spot.  

The last few months of a global pandemic, economic shut down, and civil unrest does not allow us to stay on that pivot foot…we have to figure out what’s next, not stay the same, and work to make something good happen out our pivot. 

SHIFT

To make a change in; to go through a change

When I was 14 years old, my dad had a Red Chevy S-10 Pick-Up truck that was a stick shift.  I clearly remember him teaching me and learning how to shift gears on Smiths Creek Road in Smiths Creek, MI (that’s a real place, look it up 😊) 

Pushing in the clutch just enough, letting up on the gas, smoothly, or not so smoothly, making the transition from gear to gear was a hard skill to learn. There was a direct correlation to the gears grinding loudly with my father’s stern instruction’s (that is what I will call it).  As I got better and better at it, the gears grinded less and my father’s voice became, shall we say, less stern. 

It did not happen over-night, it took time and practice to learn how to effectively shift from one gear to the other.  I wish that learning to shift our mindsets was a little more like today’s newer cars where you just turn a knob to shift…but alas, it is not.  It is a skill that we must work to master as we continue through these unprecedented times in which we live.

ADAPT

To make fit, often by modification

Adaptability is the ability to respond quickly to a changing set of circumstances.  I think we can all agree, that the circumstances continue to change quickly: sometimes weekly and even daily.  In my profession of education, we are working to make our school day work without a school day...talk about not making any sense based on what we know…but, we must continue to adapt.    

We all must be able to adjust to changing conditions, and we will not always be successful.  The Greek philosopher once said, “The only thing that is constant is change.” and Theodore Roosevelt was once quoted saying, “There can be no life without change, and to be afraid of what is different or unfamiliar is to be afraid of life.”  Like it or not, this is our new life and we cannot be afraid to face it head on. 

As we continue through this journey that we are all on together, it is important that we be reminded that there is not “book”, “manual”, or “rules” that are written to explain how to make our new normal work.  Thomas Friedman, a three time Pulitzer Prize winning author wrote this, “Entrepreneurs don't write a 100-page business plan and execute it one time; they're always experimenting and adapting based on what they learn.”  

I think that we all need to be entrepreneurs as we continue to move forward and be willing to keep trying new things and adapting to this new normal. 

PAUSE

Temporary inaction, especially as caused by uncertainty

There are six definitions in Webster’s when you look up “pause”.  I am pretty sure the one above is a perfect fit for where we are in this crazy year of 2020 and I think it is important to be able to take a pause when we need to…

I remember sitting on my back deck a few months back on an April morning after watching a Corona Virus Task Force briefing the night before, preparing for a faculty Zoom meeting…and I just lost it.  I started to cry, wondering about our future, thinking about my oldest daughter at college, thinking about my youngest daughter not getting to finish her senior year, my students in their homes trying to make sense of all that was going on, our teachers trying to do their best with remote teaching, the deaths that just seemed to be growing…..this crazy virus and its results just caught up to me.  I just sat there and paused…I needed that! 

I needed that pause, to collect myself, get rid of those emotions, focus on the good things, and move on with the rest of my morning.  I think too many times, we do not allow ourselves to take that “pause”.  We many times feel the need to be doing more, do it quicker, do it better than the next guy(or maybe its just me 😊)

As we continue to move forward with all that is going on, remind yourself of the importance of taking that “pause”.  Whether it is at work, in your home, neighborhood, the gas station, the grocery store; take that pause and allow your self to remember that we are all in this together, this new normal.

Then, after that PAUSE,

maybe there is a PIVOT, that you need to make,

to SHIFT your thinking,

and then ADAPT what comes next to

better yourself,

your family,

your community,

and your workplace.