Why we should battle depressing systems and make a change!

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I love listening to podcasts. There's something in the long form conversation that tickles my brain in an interesting way. The topic this time was mental health and depression. In my youth I suffered from depression and I recognised the dark shroud effect mentioned by the therapist on the podcast. I recognised the limits and constraints that depression places on a person. Without depression you can think in weeks and months. You can plan ahead. Under the burden of depression you barely have energy for the here and now. And even that is asking a lot.

'Battle against the rat race...'

One thing stood out to me and made me think about my role as an Organization Coach and the structures in companies. In some companies there is a imbalance in the system. 

When a structure forces people to be so busy that they can only focus on today and don’t have any head space to look toward the future. When 'the corporate system' forces people to be in a constant battle against meeting overload and creates a rat race of things that have priority in the here and now. When within that system you can only have enough time and energy to 'survive' the current day. Is then that company system not a depressing system?

'Create a better chance for a positive outcome...'

When people stop caring about the things they do, the outcome of what they do and have low hopes for the future. When making a change in that situation seems impossible. Then the comparison with depression is easily made. 

But could you so easily switch it around? Aren't you linking the outcome and cause too directly? After some thinking I believe it's not so far fetched. One part of treatment of people with mental health issues is helping them incorporate a new routine of sleep, healthy eating and exercise. This is done to get them out of their depressed daily routine and create a better chance for a positive outcome for other clinical interventions. This shows that there is at least a relation between how you spend your days and mental health. 

Could it be that if we leave the system the way it is that we are setting people up for frustration, demotivation or depression? We can add all the pingpong tables, game rooms, chefs lunches and chair massages we want but if the environment is depressing them how can people flourish?

'Something I did to make a change...'

Anyone that notices a problem can start a change. Though much like depression it's hard to see a way out when you're in it. I believe there's at least something you can do in every situation. That's what I did.

In a recent assignment I noticed frustration around meetings. The meeting overload caused a lack of focus time for developers and frustrated people being ruled by their calendars. I started the '#be-the-boss-of-your-own-calendar' campaign to help people with tips and tools to let people have ownership of their calendars so they could have the freedom and responsibility they need to be effective at their job.

I asked for the support of leadership, challenging them to envision the positive effect this could have on all our teams. Together with the director of the department we shared in an all hands meeting the start of the campaign. We showed that we heard their complaints. Officially gave them permission to divert from the old path of accepting all meetings and offered a new way of working where they became the boss of their calendar. In the following months we inspired them with articles and how-to video's and shared fun gifs and meme's to keep the conversation about this new way of working flowing.

'A small change started to happen...'

After a while a small change started to happen in how people approached meetings. Meetings are something that should enable you to do a better job. You should join meetings only when you bring or retrieve value from it. People started experimenting with which meetings to join. Teams started to experiment with meeting free days to increase focus time. 

What was made possible by starting this change?

• Normalizing ownership of your calendar and thus your time.

• Giving tools to be able to actively dictate how you spend your time.

• Permission from leadership (to actually start doing it).

• Lead by example from leadership (because actions speak louder than words).

• Context change. People taking ownership became a possibility.

• Inspiration. Opening the eyes for possibilities yet unseen.

• Co-creation. Anyone with a good idea could contribute to the campaign.

• Growth of trust in people. To actively think for themselves and be effective.

By continuously repeating the message and by the leaders showing in words and actions that we wanted people to be their own boss we made a difference in what otherwise could have easily stayed a depressing system. 

'What calls out to you for change...?'

What part of the system that you are in calls out to you for some change? When you notice something what can you do? You can start with talking about it with others. Start making small steps to make a change. If you approach it humbly you can make a huge difference in your company.

A great thing I’ve noticed while running the campaign is that when people see the positive effect they start helping along. Paying it forward to their teams and colleagues. Before you know it you are changing the system from within by a culture change driven by the group of people that benefit from it. Showing that great things are hardly ever done alone!

I am curious to know what you think! Will you let me know in the comments? Let's learn together. 💪