Taken For Granted
“I took it for granted …”
These specific words were shared in a conversation about the shift from a collaborative, high performing team to a conflict-riddled, toxic team environment. The person sharing with me their disappointment that they had taken the positive working environment for granted, expecting it to remain that way.
I get it. That’s what we humans tend to do. When our work and life is busy, with often competing demands and challenges, we can place the things that are running smoothly into the “phew, don’t need to worry about that” bucket.
Until we do.
It is then that we realise we’ve taken something for granted. Whilst that might send us down the path of should/could/would, it is far more productive to turn our mind to what else we’ve got in the “taken for granted” bucket.
When we ask ourselves:
What might I be taking for granted?
What might have changed, and require some attention?
What might we preempt and/or avoid by focusing on this right now?
we’ve got a better chance of keeping that bucket full.
I’m curious, what is hiding in your “taken for granted” bucket?