Back-to-school is a big moment for my family as my husband goes back to graduate school to pursue his MFA in fine arts. This weekend he packed up his art studio and moved to his new graduate school studio. Classes start tomorrow. Wow - it’s all happening so fast. It is a huge life change at all ages, and if you’re a parent, there’s special considerations. Similar to big work changes, landmark projects, product pivots, etc, communication and planning well can help make change feel lighter: (1) Stay focused on the goals Why do we want to take-on this massive undertaking? Is there an alternative with smaller, cheaper components but similar results? What are the tangible and intangible outcomes we desire? How do these outcomes relate to our values and vision for our future? (2) Stay aligned with the team that matters Coming from a “hard” science and math background, aligning with my husband about his art career took a lot of intentional effort simply because the value systems are so different. This is similar to engineers or data scientists aligning with design or marketing functions - it’s hard but hugely rewarding to invest time doing this before stretch assignments start so that you can focus on getting things done when you’re in the middle of it. (3) Believe in the best outcome Signing yourself up for a stretch project will feel daunting, and at times stupid. Most of the time, believing that the dream outcome is achievable will keep you excited on the good days, and pick you up on the bad days. #backtoschool #laborday #teamwork #stretchassignments #crossfunctionalcollaboration #worklifebalance #productmanagement
THis is great. Going for passion is so important. I wish him a lot of success!
AI & Future of Work Leader | People Analytics Pioneer | DEIB Changemaker | Cultural Broker Driving Business & Societal Impact | Founder | ex LinkedIn, Deloitte
2moCongrats 😊