Lid Lifters and Lid Closers: Navigating Change through Life’s Hurricanes

Lid Lifters and Lid Closers: Navigating Change through Life’s Hurricanes

October was an intensely stressful time for Floridians. My husband and I cut short a much-anticipated vacation so we could race home to prepare our house for Hurricane Milton. Still traumatized from two years ago when our home flooded from storm surge from Hurricane Ian, our PTSD was in overdrive. No surprise really, as memories of gutting our home, renovating, and moving five times, became top of mind again.

We were visiting friends in Annapolis and stayed on their 45-foot sailboat as part of a long weekend to attend the annual boat show. This trip was to happen two years ago, but Hurricane Ian had other plans for us. As we said goodbye and Ubered from their boat to the parking garage where we parked my car, the craziness of what would become a hellacious week unraveled. As I approached my car it sensed the app on my phone to unlock, but additionally, the hazard lights flashed and the hood popped open. Weird. I didn’t cue that on the key FOB or on my phone. I tried several times in the parking garage to engage drive, but couldn’t get the hood to remain closed and every time I shifted to park, the hazard lights would blink and the hood would pop open. Can’t have a hood opening while driving, especially on I-95, so I spent an hour plus on the phone with tech support to troubleshoot; of course, this added to our stress because it delayed our departure. Tech support helped some and we found a work around that took both me and my husband to simultaneously toggle a button on the car’s screen, while the other closed the hood then quickly put the car into drive so the hood wouldn’t pop open again. We had to go through this exercise EVERY time we put the car into park, so for a 2-day road trip with stops, imagine the many moments of frustration and fear. Fear was in overdrive. Fear by the way, is the most primal negative emotion AND a hurdle to navigating any type of change. The ‘lid lifting’ on my car was getting in the way of the change we needed to make, to get home asap!

In addition to needing to get home to do storm prep and the super annoying car problem, my dog who accompanied us, was sick. She’s very sensitive and seems to know when my nerves are short. Her illness was ‘southern hemisphere’ related and she had one accident on our friends’ boat before we bid adieu that morning. Not fun cleaning up the accident she had… in bed of all places! It happened a few more times, but we were safely outside. Then, it happened again, though this time it was in my car while we were driving on the highway. She expressed the urgency through whimpers and perched her feet on the console, but we didn’t make it in time before finding a safe place to pull over. So, it happened – in my new car and added more stress to an already pressured drive. As soon as I pulled over to clean up my car and put the car in park, the hood promptly opens. Ahhhhhhh! My lid was flipping for sure, literally and figuratively! So, imminent hurricane and lots of home prep weighing on us, super annoying and potentially dangerous car malfunction and a sick dog all make for a SUPER stressful 1100-mile drive home from Annapolis, MD to Southwest Florida.

We arrived home Monday evening and immediately got to work on storm prep. I’m always mentally fatigued after a 2-day drive and had no time to rest, but instead packed up our 2200 square foot home and elevated everything I could from floors, closets and office drawers and cupboards, while my husband worked outside on flood panels and waterproofing. Once again beds looked like mountains with the contents of closets and this time we even elevated our new leather chairs and put them on one of the sofas (we waited 4 months for these dang chairs after the last flood so I was determined to save as much as possible). Tuesday was more prep from early morning until bedtime when we collapsed. On Wednesday we woke at 5:00 AM, weary and drained, finished packing up and evacuated our home at 7:30 AM.

Milton spared us, though again clobbered our barrier islands and our neighbors in northern counties took the direct hit. Four days of clean-up, unpacking and putting the house back together included discussions, heated at times between me and my husband about exploring options so we don’t continue to endure trauma and disruption from natural disasters. Still mentally raw from Hurricane Ian 2 years ago and all the work of renovating, moving and getting our abode perfect, my lid was closed to change that would take me away from the home that is special and sacred to me, and represents stability and oh so many memories. And there are so many unique things that we would never find in a different home, at least that we could afford. Figuring out next steps has been challenging and is currently in process as we weigh options.

Of the models we consult and apply when navigating Change Management with clients, there are essentially five steps to incorporate. I know where the hurdle exists in this personal example and it is the very first critical step – My ‘Why’ is different from my husband’s. I have a very strong attachment to our home and he does not. I also happen to work from a home office and so am in the home much more, reinforcing this attachment. In organizations, when there is a discrepancy in the ‘Why’ is when resistance to change and subsequent conflict ensues.

So what’s the work around – when is it best for the lid to open vs closing the lid? The open lid can be chock full of messiness and uncertainty, whereas the closed lid may represent comfort and stability. The answer is it all depends upon establishing a collective vision that inspires the Big Why. And we do this by peeling back the layers to arrive at the most meaningful and compelling reasons that unite instead of dividing. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t easy, though going sage to sage instead of saboteur to saboteur, makes it possible. Yeah, he we go again with Positive Intelligence™; it truly becomes an essential foundation in building resilience to navigate change. 

“In order for something to be born, something has to die. That’s not always, but there is something about that, that I find to be true. That is, it’s a natural thing. – Philip Seymour Hoffman

This month we’ll be unpacking Change Management and share many little tips, tricks and quotes on our LinkedIn page along with a new weekly email. May you enjoy and gain some insights to implement. Feel free to follow me on LinkedIn HERE. 

And, of course, we are here to help you successfully implement and navigate change in your organization or life should you wish to reach out for an inquiry… just click on the button below to get started.