The New Nimble

CHAPTER 4Think Beyond Yourself

When we are humble, we have nothing to fear, nothing to lose. We easily flow with the circumstances that we find ourselves in and are endlessly open to learn, to practice, and to transform ourselves.

—Thich Nhat Hanh – Buddhist Monk

What could be more relevant to being nimble than the idea of flowing easily with the circumstances around us? When we swim upstream, we're not nimble; we're exhausted. We're nimble when we figure out how to use the current in which we find ourselves to either move faster downstream or get to shore. But allowing the current to take us means abandoning our effort to control our direction. Letting go requires both a great deal of humility and a great deal of trust.

In a rapidly changing business world, we don't control the stream; we control our response to it. We don't control what information is available; we control what information we deem relevant. We don't control who is available for advice; we control how wide we cast the net for that advice.

The pandemic saw tremendous fluidity in the workforce. Many lost their jobs. Those who kept their jobs were connected to their co-workers differently. In addition to dealing with changes inflicted upon us, we sometimes create our own personal disruptions. In 2021 and 2022, a record number of employees chose to change employers…or careers…or countries. “The Great Resignation,” sometimes also called “The Great Reshuffle,” saw many people trying to rethink and re-evaluate ...