Working While The Ground Shifts Underneath You
Hello Reader,
This week's newsletter is a bit different. Lots of change happening, mostly positive but nonetheless stressful. Maybe you can relate?
For example, I'm working in an office that is currently half-painted; moving objects to one side while improving the other, all the while making sure the visible half looks presentable. (And that the chaos-side isn't too visually distracting to work in!)
That's the literal state of things but also a good metaphor for everything else.
Under stress, some things slip. I didn't send a newsletter last week, oops!
No worries, you get this slightly offbeat edition. Next Thursday I'll return to my much shorter, fortnightly format of three things to turn overthinking into expert thinking.
For now, I'd love to share a bit about where all this change is heading. My hope is that you find something useful in these words, too.
Finding a focal point
Nathan Whitbread and Claire Pedrick and I have been working on a book: Lens Not Label. It's a conversational guide for managers, leaders and coaches who want to work more effectively with neurodivergent people. One of our core themes is this:
You don't need to be an expert. You just need to be willing to see things differently.
We recognise that curiosity may be hard to muster when things feel uncertain or the stakes are high. But so is shoring yourself up with expensive training or other methods to “gain expertise” — which is often less effective (we get into the reasons why in the book).
We're nearly done with the first draft, but we could use your quick help right now. Would you spend a few minutes to fill out a quick reader survey please?
This will ensure we’re on track with what we’re writing. We especially want to hear from you if you have an experience to share, a burning question to ask, or any other thought or concern about working with neurodivergent people.
Where is this going?
Working with difference — like navigating through chaos and change — involves discomfort, uncertainty, and inconsistency.
But in all that messiness, new things emerge. Maybe it's a way to make small sense of a disruption, even if that's only “It's not would I would do, but I can can see why they did that.”
Many of us are looking to make the pieces fit together a bit better. That's what I'm working on.
I need there to be some messiness…a human lives here, after all. But I want more coherence. Which is why this newsletter, my website and photography (thanks, Gideon Fisher!), office, book, are all in flux right now. They're merging toward a unified message. It's uncomfortable and distracting, but also motivating. Things get simpler as they come together.
Please stick around to see how it evolves. And get in touch if you're working on finding a simple path through complexity, too. The best way to figure something out is to do it together.
Last thing! (You might want to try this one.)
As part of my effort to rewire, rewild, and reweird, one thing I've started doing is keeping a folder in my browser for articles that I want to revisit throughout the year — writing that was just too good to let go of.
Here are three from my collection so far:
What article, book, song, or show is influencing your thinking this week? Would love to hear!
Be safe out there,
Kim
If you have been enjoying this newsletter, here are three quick ways you might support me: share a thought, send me a pebble, or forward this email to a friend (and encourage them to sign up):
Hey, I'm co-authoring a book! Lens Not Label is for managers, leaders and coaches who want to overcome their discomfort and fear when working with neurodivergent people. If you want the confidence to truly connect — without labels, jargon and clunky models — our book offers simple, effective ways of working with neurodiverse talent.
Lens Not Label will be published in November this year and is available for pre-order now.
