Are we ready to be Way Beyond?
Part 1 - The story of an experience
A brief introduction
We've been busy with ideas. Themes like: time; the (in)usefulness of what we do; the (in)usefulness of what we do or don't do with time; to be truly present in the present time; time as a gift, which can be poisoned; the fallacy of efficiency and productivity; to allow ourselves to do nothing; the place of leisure in work and work in leisure; among others, are themes about which we have reflected, written and that are becoming more and more part of our vocabulary in Way Beyond's daily life. These ideas have taken a privileged place in the conversations of our team.
We have even reflected openly on these and other related issues in our Tea Talks, which fortunately "obliges" us to publicly assume our positions, some might say unorthodox, in relation to them. These are subjects we like to discuss and, as such, we like to share them. Because we believe that what is good should be shared and because by sharing we have the opportunity to learn and to know ourselves better.
For all this, we decided to tell the story of an experience we did, as a team.
What can be "working" without working?
The original, somewhat crazy idea came about in a team conversation addressing the strategy and purpose of Way Beyond. To challenge our own paradigms regarding 'work', we could reach a plateau where we would set aside one month a year where we would not work 'out'. Work for clients would be suspended during that time. We would not answer emails or phone calls. Work in a different way and with different intent and purpose. That would be the design. Well, to start with, maybe a month was really crazy, we set aside three days to "think about ourselves".
But what did it mean to "think about ourselves"?
The briefing we received was short and, to tell the truth, not very objective (of and with purpose!). No one really knew what it was about thinking about us, not even João and Ângela, the 'nuts' behind the idea.
We just knew that during those three days we would be at Way Beyond and we would not work for the clients, but rather, for us. We knew that we were supposed to think about our life inside the walls of WB: what we do and what we want to do, the way we do and the way we want to do it, what we like and what we would like to change; where we are and where we want to go, who we are and who we want to be...
But how? In preliminary conversations, it was thought to "give structure" and build an agenda. The danger was imminent: even before the experiment happened, the difficulties in leaving the "usual register" were becoming evident. We resisted: "No! Let's go blank."
Go! Departure! Escape!
It was about 10am when we sat around the chat table (or meeting table, but we prefer chatting to meeting). The conversation began with... silence. From some of us came evidence of unease, of doubt, of wanting to know what we were going to do. Others, on the contrary, had a more relaxed, curious countenance. All of us were expectant!
But nobody had a concrete proposal, nobody had a plan up their sleeve. Nobody was coming up with a solution. What fear! Would we just waste time? With so much to do and with life with our clients suspended for three days? Ouch!
[More silence]
Progressively the first reflections emerged: are we afraid to stop? How does one stop? Could we use this "WB Moment" to talk to each other and get to know each other better? After all, we all get along well, but do we really know each other that well? Are we able to do what we say we do about time - make time, have time? Time to do the things we don't usually do, for the things we say are fundamental for us, like building relationships, talking or just being? Precisely in the sense of building our culture and putting into practice, even really, what we believe in and what we want to make a difference, taking advantage of the fact of being together those three days, taking advantage of a collective consciousness and intelligence.
This discussion took up a good part of the morning and made us want to understand what each of us felt like doing. Slowly because we are in a hurry! We made the list "I feel like it/don't feel like it":
"I feel like meeting, listening, integrating, taking the time to know who we are, collaborating"
"Does something have to happen?"
"This will be good for something only I don't know what it is yet"
"I'd like us to tell the story of what's going to happen"
"I want to have fun these three days"
"There's nothing I say I'd really like to do"
"Listening to stories, telling stories, I feel like laughing, talking"
"Anything that happens will be good, a stepping stone to lift us up, so I'm reassured"
"I like to think that this moment is spectacular, extraordinary and that it will allow us to win, to do something to become extraordinary as well"
"I am very practical (...). I want to talk about the case studies, I want ideas, I want approval"
So far, so good! Some more concrete than others in expressing their desires, others manifestly annoyed, but all willing.
Part 2 - Plans we want you to have
"Is utility good for something?" With this question as a motto we returned to the theme of utility, related to that of productivity, perhaps not as an obsession but rather as a concern inherent in the most ingrained ways of working which, however resistant we may be, sometimes still overcome us.
If anything was possible, so was choosing to return to the day-to-day routine of the office, breaking the rule of "you will not contact clients for these three days", walking "here and there", "solve this matter that really can't be postponed". And there was so much to do...
The most important thing was to live this experience, creating space for all kinds of experiences and emotions. That's why Ana chose to use the morning of this first day to finish a job she had in hand.
Whew! We have a plan
Although not consciously, we were beginning to sketch a plan. A simple, open plan. A plan that seemed to bring us a kind of security by closing a little the endless number of possibilities that we could explore during those three days. If, on the one hand, we had taken on the challenge of starting "blank", we did not escape the ritual of defining some moments of our agenda. But we did not consider that we had lost to the habit of planning. In fact, we could do whatever we wanted and what we wanted (or some wanted) was beginning to take shape.
We agreed that on this first day we would: start writing case studies on projects with some clients; draft the structure of the story we wanted to tell about these days; and attend a workshop, "The Parliament of Things", prepared by Angela and Ligia.
But is it enough to have a plan?
The next day, we had coffee together on our balcony, soaked up the sun and by 10:30 we started our conversation with a balance of the previous day around different binomials that naturally emerged:
Work vs Leisure: What was this "WB Moment" all about?
Serenity vs. Restlessness: How was this experience being lived?
Utility vs. uselessness: Would it be serving any purpose? Would it have to serve a purpose? If it was "useless", did it mean it was being useless? And what did it mean to be useless?
Having a plan vs Not having a plan
This binomial, in fact, could be a "trinomial": having a detailed plan for the "WB Moment", having a general plan, having no plan at all. The opinions were mostly in favour of letting the plan begin to take shape. After all, what we had defined for the previous day had arisen from the uneasiness of not having any plan. So, maybe it would be a good plan to start with no plan and let it happen.
At this distance, we would say that any of these binomials is not dissociated from any of the others. We feel restless because we "should" be working, doing something useful and having a plan would be essential for that. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday "doing nothing", how crazy! Could we really stop those three days? What would that mean for the business? Would we be prepared? We asked ourselves these questions countless times, talked about them, some answers reassured us, others not so much.
On the other hand, we feel serene because we are assuming that not having a plan does not mean that what we are doing is useless and that we can dare to choose to live freely the time we decide to give ourselves, even to dedicate to leisure.
We would say, however, that there were moments when restlessness overtook serenity, we had (and have) to train our "muscle" more. Because that is what we want: to stop looking and feeling with strangeness that work and leisure can co-exist, to accept that it is healthy that they co-exist for the good of the people we are and for the bad of the machine that the work machine insists on making us live.
After the debriefing we continued to work on the case studies. This is what we wanted to do.
We reached the end of the day with the cases practically concluded, with the feeling of mission accomplished. Successfully! Not because we thought we were productive but because we felt good writing the cases, because we liked what we did and because the next day we would have the opportunity to show them and improve them with everyone's collaboration.
We went back to the balcony, talked some more and toasted! We felt happy together!
Part 3 - Of ends and beginnings
Last day and now?
On the last day of the "WB Moment" there were emotions for all tastes.
On the one hand, dissatisfaction was in the air, even if it was more evident in some of us than in others. For some of us, the previous day had not been spectacular after all, mainly because we had not been so creative and innovative in living that generous and privileged time that we had granted ourselves.
On the other hand, we were happy: we had created time to talk, to get to know each other better, we had had the openness and courage to say what we thought and the audacity, from the absence of a plan, to make "something" appear.
We shared the case studies we had built, commented on them, improved them. Some were practically ready to be shared with our clients and partners. Yay!
But something was wrong: we were not all that happy with the experience. It had been good but we wanted the next one to be better!
Have we really made it that different? (or Maio, Maduro Maio?)
We have reached the end of the "WB Moment" alive! And well?
Although not everything went as we dreamed (but what did we dream for this "WB Moment"? Did we know? Did we all share the same dream?), the balance was positive: we kept asking ourselves questions. How difficult is it to deal with the idea of stopping, of interrupting routine and habits? How to deal, individually and collectively, with a situation like this, especially when it is self-imposed? What does it mean and what does preparation for an experience like this imply?
How to make use of time? How do we "make use" of time? How do we get rid of the association between time and utility?
How to deal with the demand and the need to be clear about what "this" is for? To have a plan, an agenda.
If we didn't change, if we did the "normal" and the usual, what would be the impact on the business? What extraordinary thing would happen? Probably nothing. One of the risks of this inconvenience, this uncertainty and this ambiguity is that something extraordinary could happen. And would that extraordinary "thing" have to happen immediately? Or will it happen in a while, starting at the end of those three days to take shape over a long, lasting period of time that helps to understand, contextualise, integrate and consolidate it in the DNA of Way Beyond?
Where and where do we go from here?
Sharing and transparency are principles that we want to put into practice in all Way Beyond's actions. They are part of our culture, of which we are proud and in which we want to work with increasing awareness.
The idea of telling the story of the "WB Moment" comes from here: from the desire to expand the understanding and application of these two principles, first within ourselves, so that later, with greater confidence, we can experience them in our relationships with clients, partners and all people who are interested in these matters. And that is precisely why we want to share it with everyone.
We still don't know how we want the next WB moments to be, but we are convinced that we want more. We still have a long way to go and that makes us happy because it challenges us and makes us believe that we will continue to grow as a team, some days in the shade, other days in the sun.
And, to be consistent, we are willing to learn from everyone and everything. Any suggestions?
