Stretch
Maybe it's because I injured my back this week and I have had to spend a lot of time stretching. Maybe it's because professionally I have been spending a lot of time stretching in my new career. Regardless the word for this #WednesdayWithWeppel is stretch.
Stretch /streCH/
straighten or extend one's body or a part of one's body to its full length, typically so as to tighten one's muscles or in order to reach something.
The concept of stretch can mean so many different things. My favorite is how my dog wakes up each morning. Once she gets out of bed she stretches, first the front legs, and then the back ones in a very slow and deliberate manner. Only then does she run downstairs for breakfast. And if you have ever known a beagle there is NOTHING that gets in-between a beagle and their food - except a morning stretch. On the other hand while still in bed I grab the phone, cruise through the overnight email, check in social media and then realize I need to get moving to get ready for my first call. Having injured my back I now think I will spend more time doing some stretches in the morning with Abby before diving into the day.
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On a professional front its very easy to get comfortable in your career. I was once a public school art teacher and to be honest I probably could have been a teacher until retirement and essentially been on auto pilot. Even more recently, having been with one company for over 10 years I found myself wanting to stretch - try something new - grow in my skills and resiliency. It's been three months but every day I learn something new. Every day I solve a new problem, make a difference for a colleague, or a customer. I'm so happy I decided to stretch and grow.
It's hard too. Often time we strive for consistency...for process...for standardization. But even then we need to stretch. We need our processes to grow with us, to change as our needs change, and adapt. I think about design models like ADDIE and how that model was great before we had rapid development tools. But as technology changed - we needed to change too. As we change we need to keep the good parts - stretch them in new directions and adapt to a new normal.