Grace and brain space
Many people I know have been feeling heavy with the news. I get it. I consume more news than is advisable, checking the homepages of the Journal, the Times, and The Economist at least a few times a day. A swipe of my finger on my laptop’s trackpad reveals the latest market prices, the weather, and at least one news headline.
This week I had the opportunity to write the newsletter for our house list at work, offering a few paragraphs on why you might feel what you’re feeling, and what can help.
The human brain has a limited amount of calories to make decisions. Over the millennia, our once-smooth brains evolved to reduce complexity to stave off threats. That’s why we like straightforward directions, simple charts, and contrast. Simplicity led to survival.
Nowadays, when the world’s complexity bears down on you, it can feel overwhelming. Our brains haven’t evolved to process the news with such speed and volume, especially about our deepest values and relationships. You may feel as though you’re supposed to be an expert on constitutional law, climate science, morality, economics, and more. But that knowledge takes decades of hard work, and navigating such issues so quickly exceeds our brains’ limitations.
Our clients and our leaders feel the same way. Burnout is through the roof. As marketers, we’re the tip of the spear. Clients may ask how we feel about abortion or diversity or myriad other difficult issues because they’re feeling pressure, either from their leaders, employees, customers, or shareholders.
There used to be a line between our professional and personal lives, but that line has since been erased. Many people — including our colleagues and clients — struggle to understand what’s what. One recent article from MIT’s Sloan Management Review called “Leadership in an Era of Context Collapse” describes the loss of these once-sacred boundaries and the trade-offs that follow.
When you feel the complexity of your job or of the world around you weigh on your shoulders, whether a news headline is a victory or a tragedy, remember that it’s all really hard on our brains, and even harder on our hearts.
To avoid hard-heartedness, remember to give each other some grace. Our company — and our society — depends on it.