A “Maccident” of Mammoth Proportions – What to do When Disaster Strikes

Murder was on my mind … for an atom of a moment. Then I came to my senses, knowing that it was an accident, born out of the best of intentions.

There were 20 minutes or so remaining to the close of my 2-day workshop in Barbados. We were running late, and as always, when my workshop runs overtime, I was upset with myself. I like to honour my time commitments – start and end on time. My co-facilitator, knowing my aversion to being late and sensing my agitation, offered to type the notes into the presentation as I was guiding the group in their deliberations. This would speed things up. She went to the back of the room and poured a cup of coffee to keep herself going. The participants were exhausted and it was harder and harder for me to keep them focused and get the clarity and consensus they needed. I could feel the energy in the room – impatience to be done, yet commitment to see the task through to the end.

To my immediate left, I heard my co-facilitator gasp as she leapt from the chair. 3 or 4 workshop participants rushed forward and surrounded her. I had no idea what had happened – all I saw was a flurry of activity around the small square table on which rested my Macbook and the multi-media projector. Through the bodies crouched around the table, I beheld coffee dripping off my Macbook and soaking the tablecloth. In shock I looked at the Macbook screen. It was dead.

I somehow managed to complete the workshop – with joy. I joined in the celebratory cake and enjoyed the participants writing sweet compliments on my back. Inside, my emotions were in a tumble, churning over and over as I realized the impact of a dead Macbook. I rushed off to the Apple Dealer in Barbados where the delightful technician Kelly apologized profusely, as she delivered the diagnosis that my Macbook needed major repairs which she could not effect before I left Barbados.

And with this news, my plans for the next 2 weeks were smashed. How would I complete my presentation for a seminar in Jamaica a few days later? How would I write the report for this 4-month Leadership Learning Programme? How would I write this blog? How would I function at all, without my office, my filing cabinet, my research capability, my word processor, my brain … my LIFE?

After 2 glasses of wine with my co-facilitator on the beach that evening, and a good night’s sleep, I awoke to a new day. Things happen. Disasters strike. What matters is how we respond. I mused to myself the irony of my sharing this message consistently throughout the Leadership Learning Programme, and now I had to demonstrate it.

My go-to state shifter is gratitude. In my journal that morning, I gave thanks for the positives of this experience – the Macbook is still covered by Apple Care, my data is backed up, and I have my IPad. I smiled as I remembered all the lovely people who pitched in to help – my co-facilitator, the workshop participants, Kelly at Apple, Orlando the taxi driver who took me to and from the Apple store. As I gave thanks, I found myself singing one of my favourite tunes: “Always look at the bright side of life.” Solutions started to emerge, including the free time I now had to enjoy the beach in Barbados!

As you lead your team, as you lead your life, do remember that stuff, terrible, disastrous, even tragic stuff will happen. What matters is how you respond. Because only when you can consciously manage your response will you be able to resolve the issue and move forward. If you don’t, the issues of the moment stay with you in an endless grind of misery, from which you cannot escape nor move forward.

“Between stimulus and response there is space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
-Viktor Frankl

It’s just a Macbook.

For similar blogposts by Marguerite:

3 Lessons I Learned from a Fire in Week 2 of My New Job – click HERE to view article
3 Silver Linings from 2017 – click HERE to view article