Have you ever noticed that when when you’re not feeling well nothing goes right? Maybe it’s physical, a flu or dealing with the flair up of a chronic condition. Maybe it’s emotional, you had a disagreement with a friend and it is wearing on you. In these moments almost everything is just one thing too much? Even needing to make an extra phone call or taking an extra trip to the store can be complicated.

When you feel healthy and happy these same ‘problems’ can even be fun challenges, not to mention how much better able you are to deal with the big stuff that comes your way. Let’s face it, when you are healthy, in body, mind, spirit and emotions, life is easier and you’re better able to deal with whatever life brings you. Given this knowledge it only makes sense that we invest our time and energy in our own health.

So what would happen if we applied this same idea to organisations?

One thing is that as members of the organisation it is important to find and maintain optimal health not just of results, but of the other, less tangible aspects of health as well. It would mean finding out what is at the root of our “unhealth,” and addressing it. If we have a broken bone, then a painkiller won’t help, we need a cast. So to be fully healthy it is worth taking time to find the root cause not just address the symptom we see. That means looking in places that may not be obvious at first sight. For example someone who has anxiety, may have a vitamin deficiency. If we only treat the anxiety, not only doesn’t the problem go away, it could lead to something worse.

Another thing this implies is that is that if you value your health you make an effort to keep it in balance, and t you become vigilant when things are going out of balance. That way, you can prevent problems at an early stage.

One last and very important thing that I think is important is that by working on health we need to realise that each organisation, like each person is unique and will need to play with the cards they are given. There may be some structural weaknesses, or issues that will stay an issue. True health is about acknowledging those things and finding the best way to maintain balance and well being, not just to adhere to a black and white picture of health. This means that each person and each organisation will have to discover their own unique needs in order to maintain health.

Again taking this back to our organisations/teams. What would it look like if this perspective of maintaining our health on all levels could be worked into how we work together?

Doing this asks several things of us. It means that we need to find ways for everyone within an organisation to be engaged in it and aware of signals that could mean an imbalance is taking place and a good awareness of what is happening and a way to involve the whole system.

To do this we need simple tools that everyone in the organisation can relate to, and that can be tailored to each individual and unique situation of each organisation, each team, indeed each individual.

Over the years, I have found that the most powerful approach for assisting organisations to thrive in health even in times of turmoil is offered by Genuine Contact™ Within Genuine Contact health and balance is one of the keystones contributing to organisations being able navigate their complex environments.

In May (7 to 9) I will be offering two workshops that focus specifically on how to work with health and balance within organisations as a way to support their development.