Who Moved My Cheese

FountainBlue’s October 9 When She Speaks event on the topic of ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’. Please join me in thanking our hosts at Aruba, and our esteemed panelists: 

Who Moved My Cheese – Sona, Win, Kim, Nicole, Partha, Linda

• Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue 
• Panelist Win Chang, Western Region Public Sector State and Local Sales Consulting Director, Oracle
• Panelist Sona Mahavni, Director – SW Engineering, Aruba HPE
• Panelist Nicole Sharratt, VP of User Experience, FICO
• Panelist Kim Willetts, Senior Director, Global Brion Division, ASML
• with opening remarks and panel participation by Partha Narasimhan, CTO, Aruba HPE

Our panelists represented a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives, companies and roles. Because of the many amazing accomplishments they’ve shared and their amazing stories of perseverance and success, I have dubbed them the BTDT (been there, done that) – then Be Humble, Be BOLD panel. They humbly and eloquently shared their wisdom around change with us. 

Take a Long-Term View

• Accept change as a part of life. Embrace the opportunities it unfolds for you, and those around you.
• Plan for a marathon, not a sprint. Create structure and boundaries to make sure that you have the strength, balance, perseverance and willpower to remain strong and centered.

Seize the Opportunity in the Chaos

• Accept circumstances for what they are, but embrace the circumstances to make opportunity. 
• Every crisis has two elements – Danger and Opportunity. 
• Be bold – go for it. Embrace failures as learning lessons and seize the day.
• Be open and curious about what’s next, what’s new. Never settle into complacency.
• Ask yourself how this challenge with the pandemic, or any challenge really, levels the playing field and opens up new ways of doing things better or differently.

Be a People Person 

• It always boils down the the people around you and how they can each rise up in the midst of change, under extraordinary circumstances. 
• The human spirit is stronger than we all realize. People accomplish the impossible every day.
• Put people first in your mind, in your words, but most of all, in your actions.
• Be positive, supportive and empathetic to others. Choose kindness and support. Everyone is going through so much in these uncertain times.

Unite People in Community, Align Them on Purpose

• Share your humanity with others.
• Create platforms and community to unite people, to align them to common causes at work and in life.
• Accept that change is hard and help people help each other to address changes.
• Be a force for good. Make a stand for others, for values, for principles. 

Leverage Technology as a Tool to Connect and Create

• Use tools to build social connections even during a pandemic.
• Show your empathy and authenticity regularly through through technologies and processes.

The bottom line is that through this change, we have remained productive to date, but we need to take care of our physical and mental health and build connections and community, plus leverage technology to maintain that productivity. 

Notes are available online at  and bios are online at .

CNBC, Oct 2020: What the Workforce will look like in 2025 as it morphs due to the pandemic 

Excerpt from the CNBC October article mentioned in the program:

A recent Boston Consulting Group study of 12,000 employees in the U.S., Germany and India found that productivity can be maintained surprisingly well in a virtual or hybrid work setting. This may be a result of many factors. Without long commutes, small talk with colleagues and leisurely coffees in the break room, many workers — especially those who don’t have to worry about child care — are getting more done.

Companies, too, are discovering that processes and procedures they previously took for granted — from lengthy meetings to regular status updates — are less essential than once imagined. And though some executives are concerned about burnout as working from home continues, they are enjoying the gains for now.

But key to success is tracking the pulse of employee sentiment. When analyzing the data, BCG found four factors that correlate with employees reporting continued or even enhanced productivity on collaborative tasks: social connectivity, mental health, physical health and workplace tools.

What the workforce will look like in 2025 as it morphs due to pandemic
PUBLISHED TUE, OCT 6 202010:05 AM UPDATED WED, OCT 7 202010:00 AM EDT
Lori Ioannou @LORIIOANNOU1

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