Decision Junctions – the second instalment in the ‘Multi-Storey Thinking’ Series

Thoughts and Images - Natalie Shering

In spite of being kitted out in several merino-wool layers, specialist technical gloves, and a cosy bobble hat, it was absolutely freezing in this car park. A quintessential example of pre-cast concrete Brutalist architecture. A massive, hole-y structure, with openings on every side that let the elements whip in and whistle throughout.  To many, this building is an unforgivably ugly blight on the unassuming, low-rise urban strip along the seafront at Worthing.  The building’s demolition to make way for a regenerated space has long been on the cards.  For now, though, the building stands resolute and unrepentant - it’s bleached south face laid bare to bracing, sea-salted air freshly skimmed off the English Channel, and it’s north side permanently plunged into damp shadow, as it looks back across the coastal plain towards the immense curving lines of the South Downs in the distance.

Now, the hills were fast becoming a looming dark silhouette, as the light of day continued to settle into sleep. The interplay of the increasingly blue-tinged natural light beyond the building’s many openings and the sparkly, quartz-like reflections from neon hitting, hard pale concrete was beautiful.  Even in this freezing space, I was grateful to have the opportunity to pause like this, and to reflect.  And so to my second photograph from this ‘Multi-Storey Thinking’ series, ‘Decision Junctions’:

There’s a lot to look at and ponder in this image. The large upper-case lettering of the orders, the prohibitive broken lines, the directive arrows – all painted in a ‘you can’t ignore me’ reflective bright yellow. These are the rules of car park engagement. Our societal collective has signed up to this language and we are all of us expected to understand and to obey.

But here, in this moment, when all the shoppers have long-since departed for their homes, when the only movement now comes from shifting light against concrete joists and the only sounds are those made by the wind as it zips across the black and yellow anti-hazard tape and the zaps emanating from the strip lighting, is it really necessary to see and follow these signs?   Do we have to ‘Give Way’?  What’s the worst that could happen if we throw caution to the winds and defiantly turn up the ‘No Entry’ ramp?

If the car park really is as empty as it seems, there may be no consequence, other than we get to our eventual destinations a bit quicker than we otherwise would have done. No Harm, No Foul. But what if someone, an unseen late straggler, parked somewhere on the upper levels of the car park and exhausted from their day of traipsing around the shops, chooses that very moment to set off for home too?  What if they too, are on auto-pilot and don’t realise what’s around them, don’t choose to look up, to pause, or to follow the signs around them? It could be a disaster waiting to happen.

Only by choosing to pause at the junction, to NOTICE and to RESPOND to the environment, can we choose our best course of action and ensure that we – and any other car park users - get out safely.

As Leaders, the temptation to plough on at pace, to ‘get things done’ without breaking speed, can be overpowering.  All too often, we can place ourselves under pressure to provide direction and certainty – either for ourselves or for others - without first allowing time to stop to look up and see the lie of the land: to NOTICE and RESPOND.  Sometimes it is important to put on the brakes, see the signs, and take our time, before deciding on our onward course – whether we choose to obey the rules, or to run up that ramp.

The methodology of NRR (NOTICE, RESPOND, REPEAT), when applied as a daily discipline, can be particularly helpful as a way of recognising when these pauses are needed: of noticing when we have reached an important decision junction in our path, and taking time to reflect on our options so that we can move on with confidence.  Clarity is achieved when we can say ‘Yes’ to some things and ‘No’ to others, knowing that we have NOTICED and RESPONDED accordingly.

Next week, in the penultimate edition of the Multi-Storey Thinking series, I look at the importance of ‘Making Space’ as a Leader.