What a Year… a reflection on 2021

As we move forward into 2022, we may feel a range of emotions related to the current health and resultant community challenges. I reflected on similar hope at the start of 2021 as I do now. This will be the year when things restart, when engagement is enriched by in person contact and more in person opportunities. I will get to the future aspirations in blog posts in the coming weeks, but for now I’m going to focus on the year that is now behind us.

While navigating the challenges of the pandemic and almost half a year of local lockdown restrictions, I’m very grateful for the progress that’s been made, the continued  both personally and professionally at Capillary.

If you know me well, I have been very transparent that I found the first part of the year emotionally challenging and had to take good care of my health. It was a time of feeling trapped and contained, of churning through the same as before and trying to respond to opportunities as best I could while keeping my energy tried to match. It progressed well through the year until I was able to light the spark and truly embrace a way forward with my usual gusto!  

I am pleased with all the achievements of Capillary in 2021. We started to bring Certified Change Agent Partners on board, and we now have providers in several geographies developing change thinking. I launched the organizational design qualification that I’d worked on over the past year. Developed the CARL model more and looked to present this several times. I’ve also been thrilled that we have been engaged in several meaningful consultations this year, supporting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts within cultures that need progressing this area.

I’m always enthusiastically sharing my knowledge with anyone who will listen to me and I’ve personally enjoyed speaking at conferences (even if they were virtual). These have followed the theme of CARL in the main and I’m so pleased to have such positive feedback on my virtual delivery approach.

A highlight for me, is the election to the ACMP Board of Directors in September. I am honoured and excited to serve and I currently sit as treasurer for the organization. That follows the successful work leading the formation of ACMP Ontario in the first half of the year and they are strengthening every week that goes by.

Toronto Change Days 2021 was a tremendous success, and everyone involved did an awesome job. Special thanks to all the volunteers, Dani & Giulio for hosting, Michelle, Fede, Kelly, David & Hilton. It was great to see past faced attend again and new faces join and engage with us.

In December, I was feeling very positive about the achievement. I’d delivered my first in person workshops in over 18 months and I’d had traveled internationally, with two trips to the UK for workshop delivery. The Certified Facilitator in Organizational Design (CFOD) was a highlight of delivery at that time and 2022 was looking rosy.

It wouldn’t be a blog post from me without some reference to change. I think I’ve really been able to empathize and feel compassion for folks going through such an amount of disruptive change this year. Its reflective how the lift of anticipated change can so easily be negated when the expectation doesn’t happen. This makes me consider the number of times a promised success doesn’t materialize and the excitement for the next best thing is deflated quickly when things don’t arrive as planned. I will reflect on my hopes and aspirations for the coming year in my next post. I ask you to share how the year was for you? What were your wins and what were discomforts? How did you navigate another year of disruptive change?