Covid 19: An Opportunity to Reset
Gustavo Razzetti’s Remote Not Distant: Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace,[1] takes a process orientated look at implementing intentional adaptation of the workplace culture. Razzetti, the CEO Fearless Culture a think tank that provides tools and ideas to success seeking global leaders.[2] The author incorporates the continuous growth mindset principles of Carol Dweck [3] and the egalitarian relational work environment of An Everyone Culture. [4] This systematic handbook principles, best practices, and examples are packaged in clear, usable format to provide leadership with the tools to build relationally sound work environments across our new cultural environments.
The book itself composes six key elements; Foundation, Reset Your Culture, Reimagine a Shared Future, Reignite Belonging, Rethink Collaboration, and Release Agility. Within each of these is up to thirteen subcategories that challenges leaders of all backgrounds to implement intentional practices of “employee autonomy,” [5]and a corporate culture of consistency between words and actions.[6] Each subcategory concludes with a clear summary, practical exercises and QR Code downloads.
The most fascinating aspect of the book for me was Razzetti’s method of transforming the business culture. He sees the pandemic as an opportunity to reset how things are done rather than returning to status quo or keeping the same practices while adding a remote component. This mindset of embracing the process of learning from the Covid restrictions, is echoed in Mark Sayer’s, A Non-Anxious Presence: How a Changing and Complex World Will Create a Remnant of Renewed Christian Leaders.[7] Sayer says that we are in a “gray zone moment” an “opportunity for rebirth, renewal, and revival.”[8] In these books, the leaders of both the business sector and the Christian community are challenged to examine what lessons have been learned through this turbulent time and create a culture that intentionally purposeful, clear, and transparent while engaging a more collaborative process.[9]
Many of the church leaders I have interacted with see the remote component of the pandemic as a means to an end. It was something to be endured until we can return to normal, rather than an opportunity to learn, grow, or even reevaluate. Below are some questions that Remote Not Distant stirred in me:
- How is leadership opening the doors of communication for congregants to be more creatively involved in problem solving, connecting, and encouraging the purposes of the church?
- Is the church connecting its “members’ everyday activities to the bigger” church “picture” and clarifying how they “will enable the” church’s “goals”?[10]
- If “people like to be part of a tribe,” [11] how do you keep them from becoming a cliché?
- If a clear purpose comes from a clear identity orientation point [12], are local churches getting their identity from cultural expectations or biblically?
- How intentional am I being in making sure “no one” [13] is left behind?
- When I set goals, am I focus more on input or impact? [14]
- Am I conscious of “proximity bias”?[15] Not just physically, or verbally but also emotionally?
[1] Gustavo Razzetti, Remote, Not Distant: Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace (Highland Park, IL: Liberationist Press, 2022).
[2] Ibid, cover.
[3] Carol Dweck, Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential, Updated Edition (London: Robinson, 2017).
[4] Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey, An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization (Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press, 2016).
[5] Joseph S. Pete, “Review: Remote Not Distant: Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive In A Hybrid Workplace by Gustavo Razzetti,” Foreword Reviews, June 13, 2022, https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/remote-not-distant/.
[6] Razzetti, Remote, Not Distant, 83.
[7] Mark Sayers, A Non-Anxious Presence: How a Changing and Complex World Will Create a Remnant of Renewed Christian Leaders (Chicago: Moody Publisher, 2022), 15.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Razzetti, Remote, Not Distant, 28.
[10] Ibid., 73.
[11] Ibid., 71.
[12] Ibid., 64.
[13] Ibid., 48.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
About the Author
Denise Johnson
Special Education teacher K-12, School Counselor K-12, Overseas field worker in Poland,5 responses to “Covid 19: An Opportunity to Reset”
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Denise, I appreciate your post, especially the probing questions you ask at the end. It jumped out to me that you observe many churches wanting to return to pre-pandemic manners rather than recognizing the new reality. Since you have experience in the US and overseas, do you think the American culture faces a greater challenge to adapt or do you think the challenge is greater in the international contexts you experienced? Why so?
Denise: Razzetti is optimistic about how remote work can change culture and perhaps for the better. It is here to stay and after several years of remote work, I think it will become the new normal. But I think it will always come down to the quality of the employees and the leadership of the company, not the technology. that makes an organization successful.
Denise I appreciate how your questions highlight the impact of remote work on the relational and emotional aspects of life. I imagine that you’re still involved in ministering to Poland in some way. How does your long-distance relationship differ from when you were there physically? What emotional impact did Covid/remote work have on your friends/colleagues in Poland?
Denise: I appreciated your reflections and processing of the book. I really clung to your first question, “How is leadership opening the doors of communication for congregants to be more creatively involved in problem solving, connecting, and encouraging the purposes of the church?” – It made me think of Nicole’s NPO which I’m sure you two have discussed too.
Did you find this book or even the questions that it stirred in you relate your NPO in any specific ways?
Denise, I think your question, “Am I conscious of “proximity bias”?” is an important question. As you consider the dynamics of proximity bias, what implications do you see for yourself and how do those help you engage this topic of remote engagement for your ministry?