Big moves, forward momentum
by Jennifer DeDominicis, Organizational Strategy Advisor of Rozsa Foundation
This summer, like so many, has been full of moves. Rozsa’s own Lisa Mackay is moving cross country to Toronto in a matter of days. More urgently, with the fires in BC, many of our neighbors are facing an critical need to relocate, hopefully, temporarily.
Closer to home, Glenbow is back in their building, reaching another milestone on their path to re-opening. Lunchbox Theatre has also made a big move, shifting operations from their location in the Calgary Tower building to cSPACE Marda Loop for their next chapter and season, this fall.
Moving, for those of us with lived experience, is stressful and intense, and starts with a choice. Ideally, a choice we get to make. In the thick of it, packing up, we are faced with ever more choices. A friend packing up recently said “every piece of paper I touch is a decision.” This got me thinking about how we make decisions, and how in some cases, external factors help sharpen our practice of letting go in order to go forward.
Thinking back on my own moves over the years, to new countries, cities and back again, in addition to the initial choice, there was a destination on any horizon. A finite period of time to accomplish a seemingly impossible volume of labour. Often, there were additional constraints like how much we could move with depending where we were headed.
These conditions force us to into a process of rapid discernment. As in, “do I really need all of these cheese graters?” And we typically don’t have time to get stuck in analyzing how we came to accumulate so many of said object - we make a call, accept it, and move forward. The timeline compels us.
During Lunchbox’s Future Focus Exploration to consider their broader organizational needs in comparison to options for potential spaces, an opportunity arose that would fast-track their office move to cSPACE Marda Loop. What started as a more reflective context for consideration shifted. While the Exploration phase helped the organization to articulate their goal of finding stable and long-term roots for the company to thrive, the external constraint of time and space helped surface different possibilities. One example was that the process helped the company determine there was no longer a need to keep and store everything from every show.
Patti Neice, Lunchbox’s Executive Director shared “there will always be some things that will be handy to own, but the truth is that so much of what is in the current storage is excessive and unnecessary. Doing a major purge frees up space to work and it should also stream-line the production process by having easier and quicker access to a smaller and available inventory of props, set pieces and equipment. The fact that the cSPACE Marda Loop venue is fully kitted out with the latest sound, lighting, projection and live-streaming gear makes it easy for Lunchbox to donate or sell off a great deal of old, but usable gear from the storage.”
Often, in process oriented exploration, there is an emphasis on taking time to understand things deeply in order to generate the best possible outcome. But sometimes, speed and constraint can reveal different information and possibility, and serve to help overcome, accept and let go of the fear we carry and help us gather momentum to propel us forward.
As you consider your next big decision, what constraints can you introduce to offer new insight and perspective? What are you holding onto, and what is holding you back?
Curious how Future Focus Funding may support your next big decision? Let’s connect!
Jennifer DeDominicis of Distill Consulting is the Rozsa Foundation's Organizational Strategy Advisor and is available to discuss potential Future Focus Funding projects and applications with organizations in Treaty 7 Territory at no cost.
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