This is Part 7 of the mini-series from Real Work Done,  Stuck in the Flood. If you’ll want to catch up, here are the links:
Part 1: The Flood You Can Feel but You Can’t See
Part 2: The Leading Killer of High-Performance Everywhere
Part 3: The Silent Pressure to Do It All
Part 4: Change Is Constant and Unpredictable
Part 5: A Fetish for Output
Part 6: Are You Stuck in the Flood?

Part 7: The Simple and Pragmatic Path Forward

Before you start feeling anxious that I’m going to tell you the solution will be through more company-wide yoga and meditation, know that I believe that’s the same idea as wearing a life jacket in a raging river; it may help, but it won’t keep the boat from capsizing.

While the key to controlling the flow is simple in theory, it is difficult in practice for one simple reason: it has to be based in reality. 

You can raise your expectations on performance, and you can do all of this with happy, high-performing teams, but only if you do it all in reality.

Reality isn’t convenient, and it’s definitely messy. But it also happens to be the only place where good work happens. It’s much easier to work within the constraints of human evolution and the laws of physics than it is to change them.

Fundamentally, our purpose at Real Work Done is to lead honest conversations about working in reality, delivering more value, reaching higher performance, and realizing that, at the end of the day, our humanity isn’t a liability but the future of all good work.

We happen to believe that this is the most effective way to innovate and deliver out-of-this-world value. 

And here’s the big simple and pragmatic path forward—flow and higher performance is achieved through teams who are deeply engaged, focused, and happy. 

That’s it. Simple. Not easy (but also not as complicated as it might seem.)

This Stuck in the Flood mini series is actually the first chapter of my book, Real Flow: Break the Burnout Cycle and Unlock High Performance in the New World of Work.

In the book, I teach you the principles of flow that will allow you to stop the flood and create the environment those teams need to get more done, without burning out.

And just so you know, here’s what I DON’T teach:

• I’m not going to tell you that you need to lower your expectations. 
• Nor am I going to tell you to do less or sacrifice quality. 
• There are no meditation exercises in these pages.
• And preaching work-life balance is nowhere in flow-finding.

You do not have to choose between high performance and well-being. You couldn’t choose even if you wanted to—because you’ll never achieve and sustain the performance your organization is capable of without it. 

I want you to know that it is possible, and necessary, for you and everyone in your organization to embrace well-being in order to reach the highest levels of performance that your organization is capable of.

Now, I told you at the beginning that I wouldn’t try to sell you anything. And I won’t. Not really. 

Okay, maybe a teensy bit – because I DO want to guide you on that simple, pragmatic path forward toward ending the flood and breaking the burnout cycle, and my book happens to be a pretty rock-solid map to finding flow. 

So yes, buying it would be a pretty good idea. You can grab your own copy of Real Flow for you and your entire team here (or get bulk prices and drop shipping on books for your whole team with our partner bookpals.com).

Thanks for tuning in this week. You’ll hear from me again when the next issue of Real Work Together goes out. 

In the meantime, I’m gathering stories from Real Work Done leaders. If you have 90 seconds, will you hit reply and tell me about a time when you experienced real flow? What were you working on? What made it possible? I’d love to add your story to the collection. 

Take care,

Brandi