Hiding in Plain Sight
HIDDEN ZUCCHINI & STOLEN BIKES
This year, I've been experimenting with growing a big garden.
On more than one occasion, I have harvested what I thought were all of the zucchini and cucumbers from the garden, only to take a final pass through and find at least one more—in a couple of cases, one that was over a foot in length (!).
The zucchini or cucumber was right there, hiding in plain sight.
Meanwhile, on our local bike community page, there has been a trend. People are stealing bikes and then, instead of hiding them somewhere after doing so, they are “locking” them back up, on their porch or tied to a tree, using duct tape to close up the severed lock.
The stolen bikes are right there, hiding in plain sight.
HIDDEN CLUES AT WORK AND IN LIFE
These two situations have made me wonder:
Are there other instances in our work, our leadership, or our lives where solutions or possibilities might be hiding in plain sight, if we pause to notice —or perhaps, ask?
Across clients and across industries right now, we are seeing record numbers of team members departing. In many cases, we might hear statements along the lines of, “it came as a total surprise,” or “we didn't have a clue this was coming.”
But oftentimes, there were clues. Little comments here or there; moments of frustration; instances of “forgotten” team members who didn't feel a sense of connection to their team or their manager; blocks of time on the calendar marked as private while our colleagues were interviewing elsewhere.
The clues were hiding in plain sight.
Sometimes the clues are especially hard to see when they reveal a painful truth. . .
The clues that the re-org is indeed happening and that our role isn't going to be part of the future structure,
The clues that our loved one is using again,
The clues that our kiddo is being bullied at school,
The clues that something fishy is happening,
The clues that our colleague is acting unethically,
The clues that our frustrations are “coming out sideways."
In the case of the local bike community, the clues have led to a collective search effort, with local riders keeping an eye out for stolen bikes that are hiding in plain site and then posting photos of their findings, in order to reunite bikes and riders. There have been a number of success stories so far.
As leaders, our continuous opportunity is to pause, and notice, the clues that surround us each day. When we do, we can consider:
What am I noticing?
What is needed from me as leader in this situation?
And, what can I create from here?
What do you think? Do these examples spark any examples for you, where clues, possibilities, or solutions might be hiding in plain sight?
