Listen "Adapting to Changed Circumstances"
Episode Synopsis
๐ Free leftover food in the kitchen โ first come, first served!As a PhD student, those emails were great - Iโd drop everything and sprint to the tea room. Free food - what's not to love!Two decades later, I still have that instinctive reaction - despite the circumstances (and need for) free food being very different.Itโs a somewhat frivolous example, but it captures something that happens a lot in academia: we don't always consciously change our behaviour, activities and priorities when our circumstances change.In this Hacking Academia episode, I look at what happens when we forget to adapt โ after a big win or during a tough stretch.Say youโve just landed a major fellowship, a big promotion, or secured a long runway of funding. Itโs easy to celebrate ๐ (as you should), thank ๐ your supporters and collaborators... but then often ๐ ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ.ย But that ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ, which is often your best shot to step back, reassess, and ask:๐ก What *can* I do now that wasnโt possible before?๐ก What should I be having a crack at that I didn't have the time, the resources or the career breathing space to do before? What risks should I be deliberately taking?๐ก What should I be changing about my priorities and behaviour now, so when I look back at the end of this opportunity, I'm unlikely to ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ that ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ?The same goes in reverse.When life gets difficult โ illness, caregiving, personal upheaval โ many people don't think to not keep going at full pace, not realising that hitting pause or slowing down on the non-critical work is okay. In fact, itโs often necessary.This is very understandable of course: sometimes there's legitimately a lot of pressure. But much of the time it's an unnecessarily-self-imposed pressure (high achievers being over-represented in certain careers...) that doesn't actually need to be there. Sometimes a gentle nudge from a colleague, supervisor or mentor - "hey you can drop that for a while" - is all that's needed.ย This video shares a few types of situations where this arises from my own career and from colleagues around the world.ย ๐ Watch the full video on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/dwateatr#HackingAcademia #AcademicLife #CareerDevelopment #PhDLife #Promotion #ResearchCareers #LeadershipInAcademia #Adaptability #RegretMinimization #HigherEd #Mentoring
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