In each of the last four years of Pause messages, I’ve ended the year with reflections on one key word. Peace, joy, love and hope have all taken a turn in the spotlight.

As an unsettling 2008 winds to a bumpy close, I’d like to invite you to focus on yet another powerful concept: grace.

Grace is often defined with words like elegance, beauty, charm. But, to me, those are its more superficial expressions.  

At a deeper level, grace is more about connecting to life’s richest undercurrents, smoothing life’s rough patches, and making life’s journey easier for ourselves and for those with whom we travel. In that light, grace is more about kindness and compassion.

I hope you enjoy reflecting on a few of my favorite quotes on grace. May you find many moments of grace and ease in the days and months that lie ahead.

Warmest wishes from my family to yours, for a peaceful year end and a prosperous and grace-filled 2009, Pat (more…)

REFLECTION: The way that services continue to evolve amazes me. Three cases in point.

1. The Katz Family Christmas Photo letter.  In previous years, it took hours and hours to cut and paste prints into the final collage. Then I’d drive the hard copy to the print shop, and return a couple of days later to pick up the copies. The process usually involved two road trips and a delay in the middle. 

Last weekend I created this year’s version using only digital images, emailed a pdf of the final product to the print shop, and an hour later was notified that 60 color copies were ready for pick up.  So much easier! (Yes, I know, I could just email to friends and family instead of printing at all; but call me traditional, I still like finding treasures in my mailbox this time of year and assume others might as well.)

2. New photos are afoot for my website and business materials. In previous years, the process involved three meetings: one for planning, one for the shoot itself, and a follow up meeting to review the results. (more…)

REFLECTION: If there was ever a time that called for optimism, this could be it. The media brings daily reports of disaster or potential disaster, and it can be a challenge to hold an optimistic outlook in the face of layoffs and nose-diving markets

That’s probably why  Price Pritchett’s book, Hard Optimism, called to me from the bookstore shelves. It’s an easy read – and Pritchett does a good job of positioning optimism as a not so secret weapon in creating a much more positive future. (more…)

I caught these signs on a recent business trip to Toronto (AKA – The Big Smoke).

The first sign, Crisis Station, was prominently featured on various pillars in an underground parkade at the exhibition grounds.

Oddly enough, the fact that there was a need for a Crisis Station didn’t do much to reassure me on the safety front!

The second sign appeared under the wall mount sprinkler head in my room at the Downtown Marriott hotel. In case you’re having trouble reading the fine print, it says, “Contact With Sprinkler Will Cause Flooding.”

Clearly there’s a story behind this sign – and I expect it wouldn’t have been much fun being there to see the situation played out!

REFLECTION:  In my work with clients to reduce the impact of overload and overwhelm in their lives and workplaces, I’ve noticed how easily those quick fix responses to constant pressures become the daily MO (modus operandi).

Many of those expedient choices work against long term goals like personal and organizational health, productivity and sustainability.

Pausing to be more thoughtful about our choices and actions is a first step in short-circuiting that disconnect. (more…)

REFLECTION: I’m a big fan of Marshall Goldsmith and his thinking about human behaviour and leadership. And so it was no surprise that his brief article in the November 2008 Harvard Management Update caught my eye.

The article focuses on a common roadblock to advancing change in our lives.

Goldsmith refers to it as a fantasy held tightly by good people with great intentions. The fantasy delusion reads something like this: “I’m desperately busy at the moment. My life is out of control. My challenges are unique. The situation is temporary. Once the worst of it is over, THEN I’ll get started on X.”  

Does this script play in your life? I know it makes guest appearances in mine. (more…)

REFLECTION:  Are you familiar with the term, Hail Mary? Devout Catholics will recognize a Hail Mary is a Rosary prayer. A struggling football quarterback will throw a Hail Mary in the dying seconds of a losing game. He’ll toss the ball as long and deep as possible. desperately hoping to connect with a receiver in the end zone to put a few more points on the scoreboard.

As I work with clients to resolve their challenges of Overload and Overwhelm, it seems that Hail Marys are becoming more common in the workplace, too. (more…)

REFLECTION: It was late in the evening just before Hallowe’en. I was chatting on the phone with my daughter, and had just recited the litany of tasks tackled so far that day. It had been a demanding day in the office. I had followed up my post-work exercise class by running several errands on the way home. And, I’d invested a couple of hours getting things ready around the house to host a guest for the weekend.

As I finished giving report on my day, I heard myself say, “And I still HAVE TO carve the pumpkin before I can go to bed.”

Wise offspring played back my very own words. “You HAVE TO carve the pumpkin?” I could hear the raised eyebrow in her voice. She knows how much I enjoy creating those Hallowee’en jacks.

And in that moment, I realized I’d just loaded myself down with yet another DB – a Discretionary Burden. (more…)

REFLECTION:  I’d bet good money – even my own – that every single one of you takes a run at setting your own priorities on a regular basis. You scratch out that ‘to do’ list on paper or in the back of your mind. You star a few key actions. You assign the biggies an A or mark them #1. 

And more often than not, you find that the number of items that rank high on the list is still way beyond your capacity, given the resources (time, money, energy , etc) you have at your disposal.

This mismatch between workload and available resources is as an all too common concern. In fact, it’s no surprise that it ranks top of the list of causes of overload and overwhelm on my recent survey.

What I do find interesting, though, is that the approach that sits top of the list of best strategies for addressing the challenge of Overload and Overwhelm is ‘Resetting Collective Expectations’. (more…)