Controlled Conversations
December 16, 1981, Gdańsk Shipyard - ZOMO police unit is blocking access to the gate. Photo by Leszek Biernacki
By Gregory Ronczewski, Director of Product at Ibbaka. See his skill profile.
Last week I started watching old Polish movies. Not sure why. Perhaps a bit of nostalgia for the world that is no more? I found a satire comedy from 1991 titled Controlled Conversations (Rozmowy kontrolowane). In one scene, the main character is trying to place a call from the hotel's reception. It is midnight on December 13, 1981. The phone suddenly stops working. I remember precisely where I was and what I was doing at that time. I am sure many Poles share the same sentiment. At midnight, December 13, 1981, martial law was declared, and it changed everything. The borders were sealed, curfew installed, tanks and armoured carriers deployed to the streets and plenty of people arrested.
I remember an ad-hock meeting at my grandparents' place. Phones were not working, but somehow everyone knew where to go. We were all very nervous, upset and frankly lost in this new situation. Lost until one of my uncles appeared at the door. The winter of 1981 was one of the coldest, but to him it was nothing. When the Soviet army invaded Poland on September 17, 1939, just sixteen days after the German attack, he was arrested and sent to Siberia along with thousands of Polish patriots. For him, the war lasted twelve years. Frigid years. He said we should not worry too much. The family was safe. We just needed to organize, be resourceful, and we will be fine. I am sure he did not think martial law will last nineteen months - nineteen months versus twelve years was nothing. And he was right. Inspired by his remarkable skills, we did what we had to do to support each other to go through this stretch of darkness.
When we face dramatic change, or any changes for that matter, we need to turn to a set of critical skills that will help us understand and solve what life placed in front of us. Steven Forth wrote a post titled What are the critical skills anyway? We have been looking at critical skills for some time now. Here are a few more posts exploring the subject of critical skills - skills like Listening, Problem Solving, Empathy, Sketching, Learning and Reflecting.
On LinkedIn, I found an article by Martin Lindstrom, titled The World's First Global 9/11. It is a great summary of how we react to major events that change everything. They put "a Somatic Marker" in our memory - a term coined by Antonio Damasio. It is precisely what happened to me on December 13, 1981. Lindstrom asks - do you remember where were you when you heard the 9/11 news? I remember this one very well... a bit scary though since I was on a plane... from Amsterdam to Rome. Our return flight was very, very different. Regardless of all the security measures, which I welcome, for me, travel by air will never go back to the time before 9/11. Every time I hear "this call will be monitored for quality purposes," my somatic marker takes me back to 1981.
Further, in the article, Lindstrom looks at the coronavirus and the marker, which for sure will get embedded into our memory. According to him, those fear-based memories accumulate, so more markers result in a higher chance of being scared. Fear amplifies.
"We can count on it. Coronavirus won’t be the last frightening event we face. Next time, our fear tolerance will be a bit lower. Fear will create an even bigger ripple effect throughout the world. We’ll continue on this journey, transforming how life will be ... forever." ~ Martin Lindstrom.
According to Lindstrom, the coronavirus is causing a major behavioural change in society. We will see a long term consequences in the way we interact with each other. At least, there is plenty of information, perhaps even too much information. Although you can't see the enemy, we all know that if we obey the rules, keep a safe distance, we should be fine, at least in theory.
Since I am wandering into memory lane, let me bring one more event. Saturday, April 26, 1986. Do you remember this date? I do. About three or four days later, our friend, who lives in Norway, started calling us with a piece of very gruesome news. Something was wrong, very wrong. Throughout the whole Scandinavia, radiation metres went off charts indicating a nearby disaster. For days, there was nothing in the Polish media about the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Nothing. When they finally admitted something had happened, they downplayed everything - it was the Western propaganda trying to put down our Russian friends. The weather was beautiful. Kids were playing outside. The worst was the unknown. Should I go out? And if I go, what should I wear? Not to mention that regardless of what you wear, you are going to bring some of the particles back. How bad was it? Chernobyl was about 500km from the border. Pretty close...
Plenty of disasters in this post. When I was thinking of what to write about, I kept coming back to COVID-19. It is hard to ignore. Then, I realized that I don't want to ignore it. It is changing our lives as we speak. In a way, the "me, me, only me" society so well aligned on "you are the master of your destiny, do whatever you want to do to achieve your personal freedom" mantra that we are so accustomed to hearing is not working anymore. It disappears into thin air. It is back to the old values—loyalty, dedication, respect, faith and courage. We can see those values on the front lines of medical staff around the world, asking everyone desperately to stay home. How bad it needs to get before people start listening?
We, at Ibbaka are very fortunate. We have work and can do it remotely very well. For me, the skill management platform is one of the key things we will all need in the coming future. If Lindstrom is right, we are going to shop, touch, try things differently, which will include the workplace as well. Being able to discover and excel in the adaptation skills that boost your chances to carve a new career path will be critical, and Ibbaka Talent is the right place to begin this journey into the unknown.
