The Agile Method of Human Development
Somewhere along the way in human creation, we learnt that working hard = happiness. Well, that’s what I learnt growing up anyway. In that belief system, working hard applied to every facet of life. Not just at work but in our friendships, for our family, for our own personal development. Insert me: a cocktail of Type A and perfectionism that lead me down a path of burnout from work to social life. Guess what? My story isn’t unusual, in fact it’s pretty common for anyone that actually cares about their work and relationships.
In this journey towards nailing work life balance, we need moments that truly show us what it means to be a human. To be holistically appreciated and loved within a community — flaws and all.
Communitas: An experience of intense shared humanity that transcends social structure.
Who would have thought that I would revel in communitas at a work offsite!! Propeller recently brought together 200 Propellerites from Australia, US, Europe and Philippines to experience an intense couple of days of shared humanity in Vietnam.
My nature always tends to skip surface level conversation and beeline towards the deep and meaningful. I often get told what I share is TMI (too much information) but I absolutely LOVE relishing in shared vulnerability. My fear leading into the offsite, was not if we could reach deeper connection but whether my soul had the capacity to be a safe space for so many people without perilously exhausting myself out.
Fortunately, instead of being emotionally drained by this, I was invigorated by everyone’s commitment to authentically showing the raw and real versions of themselves. During the offsite I was reminded that we weren’t designed to be super heroes, we are all a work in progress and when we lean into being authentically open with our peers, we are more committed to stepping up and doing the work because we actually care about the people we work with — as humans NOT as co-workers.
We weren’t designed to be super heroes
I used to believe that the time I put into relationships was equivalent to their perceived value. Consequently, I was burning from all ends because I thought I was the super hero that could do it all! Now, I learnt meaningful moments of quality time are far more impactful. The same goes for connections at work. With such limited time overlapped between different regions and projects that limit our cross-departmental collaboration, there is only so much you can do to get to know a person. Especially someone you might not usually work with that lives in another country.
Propeller’s offsite had an excellent way to remind us that we weren’t designed to be super heroes. It was an exercise that created moments that were the highlight of my week but also one I now incorporate in my personal relationships. It was the Vulnerabilitea house! We broke into groups of 5 and discussed:
- How would you define vulnerability?
- How was vulnerability viewed in your family?
- Did you grow up seeing vulnerability modelled?
- What’s your current comfort level with vulnerability?
- How might you lean in and embrace the uncomfortable aspects of this week?
We deep dived into these intense questions on Day 1 of the offsite. What a way to get to know someone new on a deeper level! What I was most surprised by, was the openness of my group to share.
There wasn’t any hesitation because we all stepped up to the plate to hold safe space for each other and come without judgment of someone’s perspective and experience.
Every other group had the same experience and this momentum continued into the week for us to lean into the raw and the real of us and our stories.
Version 3567.0 of me is still a work in progress
I like to think of myself developing in agile — consistently ideating, learning and iterating. I still feel like I haven’t reached the minimal viable version of myself but people seem to enjoy this work in progress version that is 3567.0 of my existence. Discovering that I am not alone in that sentiment at Propeller’s offsite was a welcomed revelation — achieved through Flash Talks.
We were split into groups of 20 and each day 5 people would share their life story in 5 minutes. We were encouraged to get to know each other on a deeper level, not just the highlight reels of our career. For me that meant sharing my struggle with body dysmorphia and the relentless ceiling that is the burden of making my immigrant parents proud. At the end of our first flash talk, I initiated the first of many group hugs to the toast,
“to loss, life and love”.
From flash talks to flash mob
If you were to ask someone you haven’t directly worked with before to join you for a surprise flash mob, would they say yes? Unless you work in a professional dance crew, I foresee this to be highly unlikely. But when I hit up 50 of my workmates on slack, they said HELL YES! This really speaks to the fun-loving nature of Propeller. An eagerness to say why the hell not! It’s the spirit of Propeller to give everything a good hard crack and enjoy the process while we learn and laugh about it together.
Communitas — embracing the spirit that is Propeller’s Community
It takes a pretty amazing group of people to show up in a way that embraces authenticity, vulnerability, and transparency. You would have thought that you would meet 200 people like that at a yoga retreat not at a work offsite.
That is a testament to Propeller. They take the time to ensure “culture fit” isn’t just a good vibe checklist.
Propeller’s People Operations team have a sixth sense for people who will just embrace an experience of intense shared humanity — communitas. They say moments of flow are usually reserved for lifetime monks in meditation. But I can safely say I experienced the flow state of connection at our offsite. It was the most wholesome experience where I felt like each person made a mark on me, through conversations, workshops or presentations. It was a constant interconnection with each other and an experience to last a lifetime.
