In 2020, LinkedIn named "pivot" the word of the year, and many considered it the most overused word of 2021. It became a shorthand way to describe changing a business to adapt to social distancing and other pandemic restrictions. I use it in the sense that I encourage people I work with to "pivot" away from the story they have in their head about a conflict they are stuck in.
What story have you had reverberating around your head in 2024 that you want to let go of in 2025? Who at work (or outside work) are you having a running battle with? Is it wearing you down? Isn’t it great to have a break from them? Well, what is going to change when you go back to work? The American mediator Tammy Lenski has developed a three-step process to help people facing questions like these: 1. Pivot away from your "stuck story" and lean in to the message it is trying to tell you. 2.
Pivot away from the other person’s behaviour and look at your own. 3. Pivot away from the past so you have freedom to decide what solutions are in your control.
Your "stuck story" This is the movie you play on repeat in your head. You will have a headline role, co-starring with the person you are fighting with. The plot may have started with low-level conflict avoidance, building from classic passive-aggressive scenes to a climax where one of you finally had an outburst, seemingly over nothing.
The story can tell you a lot if you take a closer look: • What events are you leaving out of your edit of the story? �.
