Imagine this: you have a bucket full of sand. That sand represents your mental energy to deal with unpredictability, instability and risk.
Sometimes, you need to use your sand to fill holes at work: ambiguity about your roles, vague communication, shifting priorities.
And sometimes, the ground is solid enough to use your sand to build a tower: a bold idea, a difficult conversation, a new role.
Everyone has a certain amount of resilience. And can temporarily cope with unpredictability, like a reorganization – especially if their personal life is stable.
But it always costs energy.
Energy that’s no longer available for courageous or innovative steps.
🔹 Want people at work to use their sand to build that tower, instead of constantly filling holes?
Then provide solid ground. Create clarity, predictability, and clear expectations about what one can expect from the organization, the manager, and the team.
So that the bucket of sand isn’t used up on “coping,” but remains available for “creating”.
This post has been translated. Do you want to read my posts in Dutch? www.juliaburggraaf.nl/blog