This week I've been sitting with something that's been coming up in conversations, and continuing to grow in intensity.

It's chronic, low-grade dread.

Not explicitly named, but definitely simmering under the surface.

Waiting for the next shoe to drop. Worrying about what might be changing next (and secretly wondering if you'll know why). Trudging along.

Let's call it as it is, it's not just work. But make no mistake, it's showing up in how teams are collaborating and whether or not the most important (read: impactful) stuff is getting done.

Because the strategic work feels harder. The creative leaps aren't happening. Everything is fine. And yet something is off.

In talking to leaders, they're describing something more specific than a busy team. It's a team that's still showing up, rallying, and responsive..

...and

...a team that's somehow just not doing their best thinking anymore.

What they're feeling is a gap in true capacity.

Access to thinking time. Not just slivers of short windows shoved in between meetings and catch up work.

{Never mind the fact that there is zero time for recovery or absorbing and integrating all that's happening at warp speed}.

So it's not the hours we think we have open on our calendars. It's whether we can actually use them to create meaning and purpose.

What's been really interesting as I've continued to talk more about unBurnt's research with the CHB at Bentley, is this: leaders already know something is off. And as we're digging into the what and why underneath this knowing, it's become clear that having an objective lens and external perspective on mirroring back what a national study has shown, has been super useful.

Celebrating that today, as I crank up the AC, because yes, summer is here. 😎

In this with you,

Alison