Steven P. MacGregor's Blog, page 3

When the disruptor is disrupted with Uber's Matt Wilson

We're back with the Chief Wellbeing Officer podcast!

Kicking off the Q3 theme of Travel we talk to Matthew Wilson, Associate General Counsel EMEA and APAC at Uber about the company's response to the COVID-19 crisis, discussing the nature of pivoting, dealing with uncertainty, catering for changing customer needs, the wellbeing of younger staff, and many more topics which show how one of the world's most famous disruptors dealt themselves with the disruption of the pandemic.

Chief Wellbeing Officer · Episode 30: When the Disruptor is Disrupted with Uber's Matt Wilson

A new partnership with online learning platform Oratorical

We are delighted to announce a new partnership with Oratorical who will distribute all of our online learning content and also provide a base for a new regular series of live talks. Click on the images below to see previews of our current portfolio of 40+ video clips and over 3 hours of content.

Dr. Steven MacGregor named as Honorary Professor at The Glasgow School of Art

We are delighted to announce that our Founder Dr. Steven MacGregor has been named as an Honorary Professor at The Glasgow School of Art.

Head of the Innovation School, Professor Gordon Hush said: "Dr. MacGregor’s significant experience with large-scale organisations aligns with our desire to work collaboratively with the NHS to theorise systemic and institutional change in working patterns and behaviours in the field of health, care and wellbeing. We are are keen to work together in exploring a ‘systems of care’ approach, which addresses the experience of the individual and the process of organisational change and evolution.”

More details here.

Executive Athletes & Outside Voices podcasts

While we get ready to re-start the Chief Wellbeing Officer podcast after the summer break Steven has appeared as a guest on two other podcasts.

In Executive Athletes episode #127 he talks to Ken Lubin about his sporting experience and how this impacted the business journey.

In Outside Voices he talks to Mark Bidwell about the Chief Wellbeing Officer book and the power of little nudges for sustainable behaviour change.

Home/Office insights from the Netherlands

Closing out the second quarter on the Chief Wellbeing Officer podcast and theme of “Wellbeing in the Built Environment” we talk to experts in the areas of Facilities Management and Occupational Health and Safety. With Steve Longhorn, the Wellbeing Lead for Accenture at ISS, we discuss a future vision of facilities which breaks people out of silos and advances the wellbeing agenda. With Elyse Nijsse, a specialist at Healthy Workers and Founder of ElyseCare we discuss customising the work environment for different needs and how much the employer needs to be involved in the home working environment.

Chief Wellbeing Officer · Episode 29: Home/Office insights from the Netherlands with Steve Longhorn and Elyse Nijsse

Designing the new workplace

Episode 28 of the Chief Wellbeing Officer podcast. The Recovery Summit Special.

We continue our look at wellbeing in the built environment with Akka Architects CEO Stephanie Akkaoui Hughes. Coinciding with the launch of The Recovery Summit (www.therecoverysummit.com) which ran from 15-19th June we discuss Stephanie's progressive view of architecture and the need for participatory design to customise workspaces that keep us safe and help drive trust and performance. Check out Stephanies's talk and over 70 other sessions on replay on the summit website.

Chief Wellbeing Officer · Episode 28: The Recovery Summit Special with Akka Architects CEO Stephanie Akkaoui Hughes

Asking the Right Questions

“Are you well?”

A simple question. Three words. Yet one of the biggest changes I’ve witnessed in the midst of The Great Reset has been “well” replacing the previous stalwart of opening small talk, “busy.”

We have asked our friends, families, colleagues, clients – and in the midst of the irony that has been increased social contact at greater social distance – new acquaintances from different spheres of our lives, and friends we haven’t spoken to in years.

In our work relationships we have been made acutely aware of any particular vulnerabilities of colleagues’ working from home situation, and ‘checking-in without checking-up’ may even have helped us to build closer relationships and stronger teams.

I have been on a mission to elevate health and wellbeing as more strategic business concerns for nearly 20 years, but that doesn’t mean I’m immune to the effects of COVID-19 that have compromised the health and wellbeing of millions of business people worldwide. A mix of one of the harshest quarantines globally (Spain), home-schooling a 5 year-old, business pressures, and even having a brand new Old English Sheepdog to clean up after have put to the test all of the health and wellbeing tactics I have communicated to managers over the years, some of which have worked, others not so much.

What has certainly helped is the increased interest from organisations in how “well” their employees are. And so swapping the usual stage or classroom for a newly designed webinar room at home I have talked of the importance of mindset (retaining calm in the face of chaos), self-care (putting ones’ own oxygen mask on first), gratefulness (either for our own situation e.g. no commute! or the sacrifice of others such as front-line health workers) and the basic physical and social needs of us all as human beings.

These themes, and the work of many organisations since the start of the crisis, might be categorized in the resilience or recovery areas, absorbing the initial shocks of the pandemic. Yet a third ‘R’ will be even more critical as we begin to de-escalate – Reform. Reform of the way we perceive health and wellbeing in business, reform of the behaviours we demonstrate as leaders, and of the behaviours we incentivize and reward in our teams. Reform of the questions we ask.

As a means of moving forward positively in this emerging reality, here are 10 questions that will help your own wellbeing and that of your teams.

What are the uniquely good things that happened to me during strict lockdown, for which I was grateful, and which may retain a presence moving forward?

What are the things that are most causing me worry and stress? How do I remember that I shouldn’t spend too much energy on things outside my control?

How might I transition from the confined reality of remote working with a future mode of flexible working for both me and my team?

How do I maintain self-care as a primary concern, and the means of best taking care of my family and colleagues?

How might I best create meaning in the work I do each day, and connect that to a positive impact on society?

How do I balance empathetic leadership and coaching others while still retaining energy and space for me and my family?

What daily habits and behaviours should I encourage to drive a more positive working environment for my team?

How do I best connect with nature on a daily basis?

How do I best connect with others on a daily basis?

How do I best connect with myself on a daily basis?

In many ways the challenge is only now beginning as we mount the crest of those monstrous COVID-19 total cases and mortality curves. What was expected of us to date was clear-cut. Not pleasant perhaps, but unambiguous. High ambiguity, where we now find ourselves, is also unpleasant. But therein lies the opportunity to reform. Innovators know that high ambiguity at the beginning of a project or process (sometimes called the fuzzy front end) is often necessary to create something new and valuable, rather than being stuck with ‘the way we’ve always done it’ train of thought.

The next normal will be a cumulative reality of the new daily habits that we all re-design in this opportunity space. Whether those habits relate to how we move, eat, shop, work or communicate, entire industries may rise or fall. And the habits of our teams, often a reflection or cue from the habits we ourselves showcase as leaders, will impact their wellbeing, and ultimate ability to thrive in a post-pandemic working world.

The Great Reset has forced us to pause. What is now necessary is balancing the necessary zeal of enthusiasm to re-start, with jumping too quickly to action and applying the same flawed logic as before. Diagnosing and reframing ought first to be the focus. Defining the right question is often more difficult than finding the right answer. Are you well? might be a good place to start.

Leading in a crisis

How might we best lead through a crisis?

COVID-19 has accelerated the need for a more human form of leading. An egotistical form of leadership has taken hold in recent years with many forgetting the simple fact that leadership is about others. As we emerge from the strict confines of the first wave of the crisis organisations including McKinsey have argued for the importance of compassion in leadership while the Harvard Business Review have included articles on the importance of CEOs modeling vulnerability, something displayed powerfully by the CEO of Marriott, Arne Sorenson’s Twitter address in March.

I’m more convinced than ever of the importance of such truly human qualities in a demanding business environment. We’ve used our framework of the Design Vowels with clients to highlight the key areas to help move to action and practice positive leadership on a day-to-day basis.

Practicing the design vowels for a more human language of leadership

Legendary futurist Buckminster Fuller, playing with the original Abraham Lincoln quote said that “The best way to predict the future is to design it.” And we have a great opportunity to design, or perhaps re-design our working world. If the human approach to leading, informed through positive leadership was required in the VUCA world of before, it is absolutely critical post-COVID. I believe that design thinking can help guide these skills, and have developed the design vowels framework for a more human language of leadership.

A for Ambiguity

Designers are comfortable with ambiguity, a necessary pre-condition for innovation, since they know it quickly decreases during the design process. Leaders are faced with ambiguous situations like never before. They are no longer, necessarily, the person that people come to for the answer – collaborative discovery is now the norm. Humble leadership is therefore a critical component, which research shows to drive higher performing teams.

E for Empathy

COVID-19 has opened our eyes to the whole lives that our colleagues lead – often through a cast of characters popping up on a Zoom call – and the different pressure points at home that may impact on their work activity and performance. The resultant compassion helps drive the active listening and attention that forms the basis of empathy.

I for Iteration

The World Health Organization’s Dr. Michael Ryan famously talked of “perfection being the enemy of the good” in the opening weeks of the pandemic. Whether battling contagion or organizational inertia, speed and experimentation have their place. How might we best speed up processes, create the necessary space for failure in our teams, and decide when to fall back on trusted ways of doing things?

O for Observation

For designers, getting into the ‘field’ is critical. 1 minute observation trumps a 1000 word report. Whether we can actually leave our homes right now doesn’t prevent us from using the same lens. How might we get closer to the real version of things, and challenge the long-held assumptions that are holding us back?

U for Understanding

The final vowel brings all others together and adds a brief ‘hold’ – preventing us from jumping to action and applying the same logic as before. Diagnosing and re-framing ought to be the focus instead. Defining the right question is often more difficult than finding the right answer.

The design vowels highlight the human touch that is required to navigate through the current crisis. Leaders who show vulnerability gain in strength, and are not weakened by showing their whole selves, allowing them to sail on to a new, brighter world.

The power of positive thinking

When the world outside appears to offer predominantly saddening news combined with unprecedented months we are currently living through, it is easy for negative thoughts to creep in and prevail (at the conscious or unconscious level). The last weeks have been (and still are) a genuine test - for every one of us and at multiple levels. With each passing day, relationships, our morale and our true self is being tested.

Fact is that the importance of positive thinking and reframing is greater than ever. Politicians often talked (and still talk) about the current situation through a lexicon of war, and for us as individuals, the war is being fought on two fronts: Out in the big wide world as well as within the confines of our very own minds. We each have our own internal battles to fight, and we must do all we can to ensure that positivity prevails. 

Here are a few techniques to help you foster positive emotions:

Savour the small moments: In the end, it is the small moments that matter; the smile of a loved one; the smell of coffee, the sunshine lighting up a garden or balcony. For us both as city dwellers in Dubai and Barcelona, the reduced traffic of quarantine has allowed precious bird-songs to more frequently reach our ears. “Pause” to take in these moments, rather than let them rush by. Give your brain a chance to process the pleasure - this boosts your serotonin – the feel-good neurotransmitter that helps elevate mood and that promotes calm. A close friend and experience engineer David Pearl calls it “urban mindfulness”. Even once the world is opening up again, be aware of the small tokens and make them count. You will be surprised, how many of them pass by you each day.

Maintain your strengthened social and emotional connections. With high likelihood, over the past 2 months, you have spent more time than ever with your loved ones – what a precious gift! As you might have experienced, simple acts like hugging your kids and having meaningful conversations with family members can promote closeness and boost oxytocin; the hormone that bonds people and has a calming effect on your body. When your oxytocin levels spike, it tells your body to switch off the stress hormone, cortisol. Research has also shown that when we have a negative event with a loved one (say an argument or disagreement) we need five positive moments to make up for that. Interestingly, the ratio for those with whom we have a less intimate relationship, say colleagues or flatmates, is only (but still) 3:1. 

Look for the good in others: Any crisis brings out both the worst and the best in human nature. Recognise that the best in human nature is rising to the challenge. Philanthropists are donating money to scientists to find a cure. Doctors and medical staff have been working overtime and putting themselves at risk to help sick patients. Neighbourhoods are putting together care packages for people in need. People are posting positive messages on social media. Friends from across the globe reaching out to each other. When we tune into these positive and pro-social aspects of the crisis we can unite in hope which, in turn, lifts our individual spirits. Volunteering has been shown to improve mental health and the public demonstrations of appreciation for health workers in many countries around the world through a nightly round of applause has brought our communities closer than they’ve ever been before.

Be forgiving of yourself and others. Be realistic about what to expect from yourself. The situation we find ourselves in is unprecedented. There is no right or wrong way to be. See the coming weeks as a time to work out the new normal. You cannot expect to be performing perfectly at your job, parenting, home-schooling or in your relationships. You are not a superhero - be forgiving. Remember, it’s ok not to be ok.

Turn this crisis into an opportunity. Try and see the past 2-3 months as a precious gift. Some may even used the time to learn new skills or revisit old ones. That is the vision to hold on to. Historians believe that Shakespeare wrote one of his greatest works, King Lear, in a period of confinement from the plague in 17th Century London. Whether you aspire to such a grand scale, or simply do something for the first time that may become part of your new normal, this period is certainly a precious pause. Reflect about how you can maintain some of your revived practices once the world turns back to normal.

By fostering positive emotions, we can train ourselves to stay strong – not just mentally, but physically too. Research has shown that when we experience positive emotions on the back of a stressful event, we bounce back more quickly and have a faster “cardiovascular recovery” time – our heart rate lowers and our blood pressure stabilises more quickly when we are able to be positive. In this way, we really can use stress to our advantage. Indeed, how might we become friends with stress?

A study published in Psychosomatic Medicine also explored the impact of emotions on our immune systems. In the study, people were deliberately infected with the influenza virus and rhinovirus, and it was found that participants with a positive outlook were more likely to fight off the symptoms. By contrast, those who were low on positive emotions were 2.9 times more likely to contract a respiratory illness.

Then there’s the impact on our minds. Positivity can influence the way we think. In fact, research suggests that positive emotions boost our problem-solving abilities, improve our judgement and strengthen our decision-making, cognitive flexibility and creativity.

These have been (and continue to be) testing times, but with the power of positive thinking, we can all ride it out and emerge happy and healthy on the other side. There are brighter days ahead. Make sure your mind and body are prepared to seize them!

What office will we go back to?

Episode 27 of the Chief Wellbeing Officer podcast.

Kicking off our Q2 theme of "Wellbeing in the Built Environment" we talk to senior vice president of research at the International Well Building Institute, Dr. Whitney Austin Gray. Covering areas such as workplace diversity and inclusion, the power of design to create our post-crisis future, the emotional effects of COVID-19, and even bottlenecks for skyscraper occupancy, a broadly positive vision of an empowered future is discussed where greater flexibility and harmony between work and life might result.

Chief Wellbeing Officer · Episode 27: What office will we go back to? with IWBI Senior Vice President Dr. Whitney Austin Gray