Two weeks ago, it was a long weekend with Pentecost Day as a public holiday on Monday in the Netherlands. The weather was nice and warm - a perfect way to wrap up the week and take some well-deserved rest - including, setting up a small indoor barbeque, which we rarely do at home. I took out the bbq set which has been stowed away in our attic and began to get busy in the kitchen. I oiled the grilling tray and laid out the meat, courgettes and paprikas as a start. The equipment was properly connected and seen fired up to work fine - well, until it wasn't.
A few moments later, I heard my son exclaiming that his iPad's connection suddenly dropped and he could not do anything more with it. Neither was the television. I turned around and realized that the bbq set on the dining table has stopped working too. The sizzling sound of food slowly faded away.
What, no electricity at the most untimely hour? This can't be. I thought.
At my first instinct, I went to switch on the stove and saw that it still functioned. The clock displayed on the oven/microwave was still shown. Odd (I guess it hasn't hit me yet).
Next, I unplugged the bbq set and connected it to the socket near the stove, thinking I could at least finish grilling the food already on the tray. Little did I know that that was totally a bad move before the situation became worse. The light on the bbq set was on, then flickered for another few seconds before it went off again.
Look what you've done! I heard myself lamenting.
How can this be when this equipment looks so brand new? I argued within, refusing to accept the short-circuit problem 'defeat'.
It finally hit me that nothing else in the house run except (thank goodness) the refrigerator, oven/microwave, washing machine and dryer. At least, these few appliances could keep some core chores going this long weekend without hiccups. I bet my luck by calling for repair services on a Saturday only to be told that since these appliances worked, they couldn't file an urgent case and I was advised to figure things out till Tuesday before they could send an electrician over, if still needed.
I couldn't hide my frustrations and disappointment.
My 'urgent cries' have been successfully persuaded and dismissed. Now what?
You know, as a modern-age parent, without the Internet, Netflix, access to Nintendo games and children books digital subscription, even temporarily, was selfishly considered a huge 'disruption' to the way I have intended for the long weekend to go (pun intended, smirk).
As I drew in an extended breath, something dawned upon me:
Be resourceful, I heard it said.
That's right - while things might not always work out as planned, it is also an invitation, a subtle one at times, for a new perspective and approach.
When crisis happens, opportunities arise - only if you choose to see it that way.
In an organizational context, this is similar to strategy planning and execution, which is all about figuring out how to get from where you are right now to where you want to be, with everything you currently have.
In this case, resourcefulness certainly changed the game.
In reality, it was merely a moment of decision to reframe the whole mishap.
I pulled out the only one power bank I have and first charged up my phone. I then connected the iPad to the broadband connection on my phone and managed to download a few Spongebob episodes of my son's preference and at least one family movie to last the evening. I ran some laundry during the day so that I could unplug the washing machine and leave the exhausted power bank to charge through the night. Disconnecting the dryer would then allow me to charge up the iPad. I moved up and down the stairs with my laptop to have it sufficiently powered to focus on some offline work while my son was asleep. In this way, rinse and repeat.
In order to spare some batteries usage for key electronic devices, we extended our activities outdoor in nature since the sun has been mostly shining throughout the weekend. We also have more reading time with physical books borrowed from the local library when it drizzled during some parts of the afternoon. I got some packed meals from Albert Heijn to warm up and resorted to one dinner take-out for varieties on that weekend. In the evening, we cozied up for movie time on the iPad in a semi-dark living room (thanks to the longer day time nowadays). By the time we were done, it was completely dark outside and time for a good night's sleep.
Strangely enough, none of that truly felt like a friction.
Everything just flowed, albeit differently.
There was a sense of freshness and somehow, even more restfulness amidst all that.
None of what I feared initially - namely, boredom and brilliant ideas run-out (to keep an 8 year-old entertained) - stood any chance at all in permeating the atmosphere.
This proves that, where focus goes, energy flows.
There is something unique about making up the mind about an idea to move forward with. It means you are no longer stuck, whether or not the decision leads you to your goal yet but at least, you will find out then make another decision, or pivot, if need be. This reminds us that there are plenty of ways to come to a solution. There needs to be a proper balance between rigidity and flexibility, where feasible.
Resourcefulness, fueled by focus, or vice versa, has the potential to shift the trajectory of a situation towards a favourable outcome. Instead of reducing to anger, blame and resentment, resourcefulness opens up possibilities to explore the otherwise uncharted territories and introduce new learning experiences that are key for our personal growth and development. It is an important skill that every leader and individual must cultivate and have.
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