The Fallow Field

Change is not a project or a one-off scenario, it’s a constant. Many resent the churn, and uncertainty of tangible shifts in politics, society and in their own working or personal lives. Others embrace the ebb and flow, accepting that there is a natural flux to things. Some, the pioneers, the drivers and the self-acknowledged change makers, find that sometimes periods of inactivity and lack of ‘transformation’ can be an almost unbearable challenge. In contrast, those who prefer greater predictability and consolidation in their jobs and lives, look for long periods without active change in order to refresh and reset.

In reality we all need both, but depending on our own psychological preferences the balance of those periods will be different: sixty-forty, eighty-twenty change-to-stability ratios will suit each individual to differing degrees. For some, ten percent change to ninety percent stability will be the only environment that optimises their personal happiness and growth. There is no golden formula!

My observation is that problems arise when the benefits of the hidden growth which takes place in the metaphorical ‘fallow field’ are not recognised by those who need and potentially demand a regular yield of ‘change’. Possibly they cannot see the benefit of what feels to them like regression rather than progress.  Periods of transition from high to lower activity therefore manifest as disappointment or failure.

This might be particularly so when change requires us to let go of some of the concepts or ideals which have formed the basis of our perceived progress to date. It is hard to concede that some things we might have valued and have served us well during one professional phase or life phase may need to be put aside.

At such times we need to shift to a mindset which recognises that a new opportunities or ways of working/living/being often emerge because of the commitment we make ‘letting go and lying fallow’. I like to call this ‘the exercise of release’.  Can we view this as a remarkable gift? A singular period in which we can step back and let go of some of our long-held drivers and allow ourselves to experience the silent and unseen work of the fallow field.  Here, beneath the surface, unseen and regenerative, the foundations of future high yield creativity are laid.