How can Curiosity and Plan B support in navigating uncertainty?

As those of you that regularly read my blogs know, I am a passionate traveler, and I am always deeply fascinated by people that are able to turn traveling into a real profession or that take long periods off to discover remote places of our Earth.

I therefore jumped to the opportunity to interview Sara Rossini, who is traveling the world with her husband, their three kids aged 12, 9, and 4, and their dog on their sailboat Shibumi.

Talking to Sara, I was particularly interested in finding out what are the lessons they are learning that can be useful for us all, living with our feet on the ground. After all, we may not be navigating rough oceans but we do need to navigate challenges and changes every day, and raise your hand if you have never felt unprepared to face very big waves these last months!

I want to share with you two, inter-connected lessons learned that I captured during our conversation, which I think pose us some interesting questions for reflection.

1- Being curious and compassionate… starting with oneself

Curiosity is what brings Sara and her family to define their journey not as a destination or a list of countries to visit, but rather as everything that lays in between the departure and the future return back.

But even before that… curiosity starts from oneself, by Sara having the courage to explore the “new her” that is unfolding and that can sometimes be very different from the “old her” she left on the coast of Italy with her precise plans, schedules and itineraries.

How many new possibilities are we able to create, for us and for our organizations, if we are able to develop and nurture our natural curiosity and our beginners’ mind?

Are we willing to let go of our self-judgment, while stretching out of our comfort zone?

Can we look at others AND ourselves with a more compassionate eye in this process?

2- Always have a Plan B… and maybe even a Plan C or D

Can you imagine selling everything you own (apartment, furniture, car…), putting your remaining belongings on storage for at least a year, with a well-drafted plan of spending a few months navigating in the Mediterranean, then setting off to cross the Atlantic Ocean in its best timing, and maybe celebrating Christmas in the Caribbean with friends flying there to meet you?

How would it feel to be forced to postpone departure and then be “stuck” a few hundred kilometers from home after a few months?

If you are anything like me, it might feel very frustrating, and yet…
Through the words of Sara, I heard the beauty of discovering a Plan B her family would never have imagined, living life in Formentera like the locals, including going to the local, Catalan-speaking kindergarten for the little one.

The tricky part of Plans B is that you cannot beautifully paint and plan them before leaving home. They can only be built, step by step, by leveraging on what is there in the moment, and on your abilities and passions, having the courage to let go of your plans and preconceptions and yet keeping the larger picture of your dream in your mind and heart.

How many times do we stubbornly insist on our Plan A even when it is clear it isn’t going to work?

What are the costs, in terms of time, stress and resources, of this stubbornness?

What is not considering a Plan B preventing us from doing?

How would it be if we consider our Plan B not the ugly brother of Plan A but as a real opportunity to go further and beyond?

Let’s remind ourselves that having the courage to think and live a Plan B can tremendously impact our life and the life of the organizations we lead.

As Frederic Laloux , author of “Reinventing Organizations”, one of the most influential management books of this decade, shared during the Teal Around the World conference I attended a few weeks ago “If you don’t have a Plan B, you are essentially powerless on the questions that matter most, because you will not take any risks. But if you do have a Plan B, suddenly you get your power back, you find your voice”

I wish you all to find your voice and your wave and enjoy your navigation!

If you want to read more about the topics of curiosity towards yourself and others, read my blogs The unlearning challenge and The struggle to remain curious during dark times.

If you want to read more about the adventures of Shibumi (Italian only): https://www.shibumi.it