Ten More Seconds
Spin bikes and pushing through "the dip" of community work
Yesterday morning, I hit the wall in spin class and simultaneously realized it was the perfect metaphor for community work.
Before I go on though, I will do a quick explainer about spin. I used to think I would hate spin and then I was tricked into tried it and actually love it.
Spin is essentially an instructed workout to upbeat music on a stationary bike with a mechanism to control the resistance, allowing you to simulate riding up or down a hill. The bikes at our gym have a dial for this. Usually at the start of class, I turn the dial as far as it will go and note that as “10” - max resistance. You need to stand up to pedal for any amount of time here. Then, I turn it back a half turn, counting down with each half turn until I reach 3 or 4, this is easy, “flat” riding and where I typically start.
In the last half of the class, we were doing a fairly gentle “hill climb”. We would ride for thirty seconds at each number and then turn up the resistance. I was feeling pretty good, especially considering it was the first class I’d been too in six months or more.
Usually I enjoy hill climbs, but as I turned the dial to “6”, it suddenly felt harder than I thought it should. I had just been at this level a few songs ago, and I was not prepared for the challenge suddenly facing me.
Another half dial and it felt impossible. My legs struggled to turn the pedals.
“This shouldn’t be this hard,” I thought. I momentarily wondered if I’d messed up my turns and was actually at a higher number. (It’s this kind of focus- how your body feels and the turning of the dial- that makes spin almost meditative for me.)
I knew another half turn was coming and my legs screamed to stop. Then I realized, I’d hit the wall.
While I thought getting back on the bike would be like, bear with me, riding a bike (ha!), my muscles weren’t prepared and the lactic acid build up said, “hold up”!
Our instructor encouraged us, “Ten more seconds!!”
And like Kimmy from the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, I thought, “I can do anything for ten more seconds!”
And I used every ounce of energy I had to push through those final turns before gratefully turning the dial back down. My body filled with the satisfaction that comes when you push it further than it wants to go and now you know you’re a little stronger. It’s like a radiant realization of our own power we often forget we have.
And as the pedalling became easier and the lactic acid drained away from my muscles, I thought, “this really is the perfect metaphor for community work.” Yes, I’m a dork and I think things like this at the gym.
Truly, exercise and our body’s physical capabilities often remind us of what’s possible and serve as a great metaphors in life. Things seem so straightforward and manageable at first and then you hit a place, where it gets really, really hard. For some people, they will stop here. Others push through. And often, on the other side is where the good stuff is.
Seth Godin calls this “the dip”.
The magic is on the other side of the dip. Getting through. So many people will give up in the dip though. Turn the dial back. Retreat. Stop. Call it a day because it’s just too hard.
And sometimes there is a case for quitting. Sometimes you’re in a “cul de sac” and you need to get out. The key is to know when its a dead-end and when it’s a dip. “Quit early and quit often”. It’s another version of failing forward. Short, iterative bursts where you plan, act, learn, repeat until you find the thing that is worth committing too.
And that’s when there is reason to push on instead of quitting. Whatever log jam might exist that is stalling the work and creating the tension that makes it feel so hard, will eventually give way.
It just takes a steady effort of pushing and pulling, applying pressure to different tension points and finding the spot that is the vulnerability. Or the opportunity.
In teams, there’s so much value in having those people who keep at this push and pull. Sending the gentle reminders. Nudging all the parties ahead.
Not everyone has the patience for this. For some it is too slow. Too tedious. And these people also have a place in our community efforts. They push us to make decisions and they celebrate action. They are the people who stop us from sinking into analysis paralysis.
Analysis paralysis. This term came up in a strategic planning session I was facilitating this week and I was reminded how much I like this term. Often, we want to defer decisions until we have “all the information”. This can happen in any forum- community collaborations, council tables, board rooms.
Having people who insist on doing research and consulting the community are also invaluable to teams. Personally, I LOVE community consultations and think they are an opportunity to uncover and create richer, more impactful initiatives.
Eventually though, decisions need to be made. And there will almost never be a time when decision makers will have 100% of the information. This is where I see the visionaries often come in and paint a picture with the information at hand, including the positive purpose for the work. These are the “influencers” in DiSC work.
In fact, all four personas I’ve described have a name in the DiSC assessment or some similar version of personality or behavioural-style methodologies. The fact is, you need a team of all these people to do great work. Community-building cannot rest on just one person. Organizations do not rest on one person.
If our community work truly is worth doing, we’re best to make sure we have folks with all styles at our leadership tables. Inevitably, the going gets tough, the pedalling gets hard, and we need to be able to push through. Ten more seconds and then maybe another ten more seconds. When we ride over the top, we will be rewarded with what comes next.
Weekly Link Round-up
What I'm reading, listening too and generally enjoying and challenged by this week
The list seems relatively small this week as I was in catch up mode after being sick. A lot of time this week was also devoted to holiday decorating as our village descends into the season. It’s too soon for me but this is how it goes in small business.
Who Exactly are the ‘Customers’ of a Nonprofit Organization - Preparing for the strategic planning session I came across this great, short read by Mark Kramer about nonprofit “customers”. It was validating to see volunteers and employees identified as key stakeholders, as much as it reinforced the challenge of successfully operating a nonprofit. Serving three customers is no easy feat. It requires fierce strategy, deep understanding of all three customers and clear direction to get the balance right.
You’re Wrong About Amy Winehouse - I put this on while tidying up the apartment yesterday, and it was lovely and sad to take a little dive into the life of one of the “27 club” and the most talented singers of my generation.
Kimchi Tuna Melt - I saw this recipe in this month’s Chatelaine and had to try it. I love a good tuna melt and think they’re highly underrated. Plus, I had everything in my fridge for this, except the Kewpie mayo, but I followed the suggestions to adjust mayo to get the taste. (Fun sidebar: our little village convenience store sells Kewpie mayo and the owner swears by it in ramen. I haven’t tried it yet.) Also, I had leftover chicken and a container of fresh mung beans in the fridge, so I subbed these for tuna and celery. So, I guess it was a Kimchi Chicken Melt. All the same, it was awesome. I will be making again with tuna and mung beans.
Rebel Daughter - Chatelaine also recognized their Doris Anderson Award Winners this month. A few years ago, I stumbled upon Doris’ autobiography - it was in a Free Little Library on a street I rarely ventured down in Ottawa. Her tenacity inspires me. I wish I could’ve met her. I’m going to re-read it this winter.
The White Pages - I’ve shared this Substack before. This week’s post was another raw and honest take on processing the Israel-Gaza war.
