Who we are, our stories, our experiences, our scars, our secret loves; all of it makes us unique and connected with others. When we spend time together with others, we see snippets of others, not their whole selves. In many ways we are like jigsaw puzzles and as we spend time together, if we are present, we are able to fit pieces together, yet we never see the whole picture (and we don’t have the cover on the box to know what the ‘whole’ is).

People are fundamental to any change project we embark on. During these projects ‘new puzzle pieces’ will reveal themselves; some pleasant surprises, while other not so much. It is vital to expect this.

In our planning we often focus on tasks – what steps needs to be done. We rarely do the same planning about people and our organisational culture. The tasks feel easier as they feel more known, while the people side of things ‘we’ll make it up as we go along’ which will always be needed, but with some foresight we can anticipate some reactions from people.

Similar to many forms of martial arts, we can all get better at directing the energy and force of others in the way we need it to go. This requires practice, not just making it up as we go along.