Sounds absurd, right? Entirely understandable because right from our time in the womb, we are used to a state of motion. As a result, to keep moving has become a default state of our being. We like to keep ourselves busy, jumping off one bus and onto another, always moving, always in a state of motion. And no, not just in the physical state but equally in our minds. We like to be on the move and feel busy. Strangely, motion is comforting.
Being in motion has become equal to being productive – a success marker of sorts if you like. Always on the move, even rushing sometimes, is a heady and strangely calming feeling akin to a high from an opioid that makes you feel in control, snugly secure, believing that everything is all right. And when you are riding this high, even the thought of taking a pause seems downright ludicrous.
But a state of constant motion does unsuspectingly silly things. It allows you to see but not observe, hear but not listen. Even while you hear the bells toll and see the smoke billow, they feel all too distant and a signal perhaps for someone else. And that is when problems begin, innocuously creeping up while preying on your nonchalance and a misplaced sense of calm.
As an individual, you shut yourself out to how the world around you is changing, your relationships are, and your health is. You become increasingly absent in all of your physical presence. As a business, and unsurprisingly so, you experience very similar things. While you are flying at great speed, you are even more blind to the changes begging your attention – emergent technologies, evolving relationships (with the brand), changing motivations, their impact on consumption, and finally, the fundamentals of your engagement and business models.
The implications could be severe, unfolding slowly, to begin with, but rapidly gaining their speed and momentum. But without pause, you are still flying, high on the heady cocktail of motion and speed. You ignore the imminent danger, a bit like the proverbial bird who simply buries its head in the face of the clear and present danger, experiencing a distinctly soothing but misplaced sense of calm.
Like the bird, Kodak chose not to see the end of the roll, and the big qwerty couldn’t imagine touch. Neither could the banks a world without physical currency and bulging leather wallets. Retail did not think of commerce beyond the store, and grocers couldn’t see platforms beginning to promise delivery within 10 minutes. I could give you more, but you get the drift. The revolutionaries brought about revolutions right under the noses of those who stood as high priests at the gates, standing at the vanguard of (then) thriving businesses, secure in the belief that they were in control.
Motion brings unidirectional speed, akin to the hurtling smoke-billowing, steam-rolling locomotive. And the bigger the locomotive, the higher the accompanied momentum. And that makes applying sharp brakes difficult, changing tracks improbable, and laying new ones impossible.
Considered thinking ends up being a casualty, and as a result, the quality of actions, a suspect – impacting personal and professional relationships alike. Getting your head in the place it needs to be and kitting yourself to become a relevant version of yourself is fundamental to being included in people’s lives, and personal and business relationships alike.
But the beginning of it all begins with taking a pause. Pause and yank yourself out of that blissfully naïve and comfortable stupor. Pause to observe, listen, appraise, and heal. Force that pause when you think you need it the least, using it to reinvent relevance, chart new courses, or even simply reboot and relaunch on the familiar path, but only after you have taken a long breath and honestly assessed it all.