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Hi, it's Michael and welcome to this week's useletter.
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It's the newsletter that's useful. Focussing on your future not my past.
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Last week, a close friend made an observation.
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She'd noticed behaviours and traits of mine she suggested resembled depression.
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It was somewhat confronting to have something I’d missed laid out so clearly.
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It wasn’t that I was oblivious to my challenges.
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It was simply that I hadn’t put them all together.
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I'd put the fatigue and motivational issues down to dealing with the daily grind and my introversion. On occasions I'd recognised consecutive days of 'minor' depression, but I thought of them as a passing cloud, part of life’s ebb and flow.
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Once she'd said it out loud, it put together the picture I couldn’t see, because I was in the frame. Once shown, I was no longer blind to it.
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It may not be depression, but thanks to her generous care and support, I’m getting help that I otherwise wouldn't have.
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But this isn’t really about me.
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I want to make mention of two important things around wellbeing...
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When it comes to the wellbeing of our friends, family and colleagues, asking if they’re OK is a good start. And showing them something that they might not have seen and need to, is the most generous and caring thing you might be able to do. Doing so even when it feels hard to take on. You can start: “I might be wrong but I’ve noticed…” objectively stating the thing you’ve noticed. You can leave it at that; you can indicate what you think that might mean; you can offer help and support; or you might suggest a plan. It doesn’t all need to be one conversation. Take it as fast or slow as necessary.
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Today, Wednesday 8 May, is the first day of The Wellbeing of Architects Symposium. I’m attending (potentially even as you read this). They’ll be discussing the three years of research about the wellbeing of the profession, undertaken at Monash University lead by Naomi Stead. They’ll be identifying ways forward to address the challenges. As well as launching their Wellbeing Guides for the profession. I’ll use the next useletter to report what I’ve learnt and I'll include any useful links.
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I can’t over-emphasise how important this work is, and much needed.
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So this week, rather than give you tools, insights or a wisdom, I thought I’d just share some wellbeing resources I’ve collected over the last half year. They might be useful.
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PS: I've updated my website with the detail of my new kit-of-parts workshops. Read all about them HERE.
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Wellbeing
These resources were collected as part of the work I do for the Architect’s Mental Wellbeing Forum, and to be shared. They’re just articles that came across my path I thought interesting and useful to me and others.
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In this Nano Tool for Leaders, Wharton’s Adam Grant shares insights about how burnout can be prevented and reduced — even in high-pressure jobs.
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While not entirely dependent on one another, the relationship between architecture and mental well-being is an important topic, as designers and architects can contribute to creating a more enjoyable environment for everyone. From strategies to enhance mental health in shared workspaces to the ways in which architecture can contribute to preventing cognitive decline, understanding the potential impact of environmental neurosciences and the ways they apply to architecture is an essential skill for our profession.
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A good deal of the American workforce feels uncomfortable sharing the state of their mental health with their bosses, according to a recent survey conducted by Modern Health and Forrester Consulting.
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Mental-health advocate Poppy Jaman identifies strategies companies could employ to improve the health and well-being of their workforces.
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Employees are in need and are demanding better coverage. Here’s how leading companies get mental health coverage right.
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A new McKinsey Health Institute survey across 30 countries offers insights into how organisations can help create a workplace that prioritises physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.
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The culture of practice workshops
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Workshops ending with better practice
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Master practice skills, leadership and elevate your team’s culture.
Build a more efficient and adaptable practice, with a plan for the future.
Level up team skills to amplify practice capabilities, wellbeing and passion.ion.
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Free 45 minute Practice Clarity Consultation
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recent useful blog posts...
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It might be time for the architecture profession’s leaders to starting learning form the ground up.
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There’s two main ways to stand out. Be different. or Be better. Copying is the route to unexceptional.
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Or…
do architects do too many of the wrong things?
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“Things not to say to someone with mental illness: Ignore it. Forget about it. Fight it. You are better than this. You are over thinking.”
Nitya Prakash
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