Ouch! Ever been slammed by a swinging door?  If so, you’ve experienced the downside of a pivot.  It can hurt and make you feel stupid!

In the martial arts, if you pivot away from a punch it will save you.  However, unless you add another move, you’re likely to get popped.   When I demonstrate Spiral Impact with slow motion aikido (a martial art) people will often say, “Oh yes, pivot.” Though, I rarely use that word as a pivot is just a first move.

The paradox of the pivot:
pivoting seems like an obvious move to safely transition when challenges occur, but on its own, a pivot just swings back and can set you up to get popped and feel stupid.  

A pivot is two dimensional – a spiral adds a third dimension which creates more awareness and control.  A pivot keeps one foot in the same place whereas a spiral is dynamic and moves in three dimensions.

Aikido Movement

Pivoting has helped many businesses and people adjust short-term.
For long-term success – implement additional moves.

In a world of constant change and disruption, having the dynamic stability of a spiral is what makes you thrive.  When I say thrive, I mean beyond financial success – to peace of mind, creative tension, and the mastery of conflict (where freedom is found!).

What does this mean from a practical sense?   Consider these:

* How are you anticipating ongoing change?  Do you seek out new tools and listen to people you respect? (In the GIF, as I deal with one attacker, I maintain an open posture that moves into the next change or conflict.)

* Have you deeply engaged with your team about how you are working together?  The teams I’ve worked with have created a credo (short list of closed ended questions) that address how they work together.

Suggestion: Revisit your credo or create one now. This is a great way to keep all members of your team close even at a distance.  A credo  provides you with an easy way to check-in. The important part of this is not the questions, but asking, hearing the answers, and acting upon the results. This is detailed in the Black Belt Edition of Spiral Impact.

* What are you doing for self-care?  How are you supporting your team and family in their well-being? What is your practice? This adds to your centeredness! Have you scheduled this as a solid commitment on the calendar?

* In what ways are you more fully developing your purpose?  What has this past year revealed as really important to you and your team? How have you innovated to deliver more toward your purpose? Has your purpose shifted or expanded?

Emulate the power of a spiral and you will sense the next change coming and adjust.  Your intuition, your 6th sense, will deepen.  You will anticipate and move into change.

There is no new normal.  There is only fluid movement.  Resistance will wear you down.  So will constant pivoting.

Be cautious with the temptation to pivot back to March 2020!

So Spiral and go with waves of continual change!

Let’s roll!  Karen