DesignShift: From Force to Flow
What can water teach us about navigating uncertainty?
I’ve always loved water. I started swimming when I was 7 and didn’t stop until I was 27. Twenty years of early morning and late nights mostly under the surface. Swimming taught me the strength and softness of water, and more than anything, I think it taught me the rhythms of seasons.
Every athlete knows that you can’t run far, swim fast, or jump high all the time. You have periods to rest, and you have periods to race. In swimming, I had one BIG race for the year. National championships, college competitions, or important qualification meets. This was our time to swim fast. In athletics, it’s easy to accept that we have peak competitions where we’re supposed to be at our best. But between those peaks, we have slower seasons focused on building, recovering, and reassessing.
Swimming taught me that we rest in order to race. But it also showed me that all seasons matter equally. Some are for rest, others for rehab and recovery, and then of course, the seasons for racing and reward.
Even though swimming showed me the beauty of the seasons, when I entered the work force, it seemed like I was entering a world that was always in race mode. The rushing to get things done didn’t seem to pause for reflection. There was no seasons for slowness, and no schedules showed me when I was allowed to take a break (beyond lunch and holidays)
In every job posting I see, we’re asked to “thrive in fast-paced environments” but I have yet to meet a person who truly thrives in environments where they’re always running. Most people can thrive (or manage, maybe that’s a better word) in a fast-paced environment for a shorter period of time. But after a while, they too need to rest and recover.
From Force to Flow: A Framework for Navigating Change
I’ve created 9 states of flow that invites you (and me) to embrace water as a tool for accepting the phase we’re in. Instead of trying to calm the ocean or rush toward clarity, we practice recognizing the state we’re in and finding ways to respond to it with care. Sometimes the water is murky. Sometimes it’s stormy. Sometimes it’s a quiet ripple. Each state carries meaning. Each state offers guidance. Each state of water reflects a different relationship to energy, clarity, and motion.
