Listening to what bonds us
what remains when the world & visions change
You receive the Wonder Dispatch because you have participated in one of Tracking Wonder’s or Jeffrey’s events, attended one of Jeffrey’s keynotes, or have opted in for one of our many free resources.
Good morning,
You’ve likely heard the Greek thinker Heraclitus’s fragment, “Change is the only constant.” I have generally accepted that fact since I studied and first started trying to live philosophy in grad school.
And then came COVID-19 and the aftermath of the ensuing years that have upended so much - how we work, how we gather, how we show up for one another.
During the pandemic, a physician shared with me how much she missed being in the same room with her patients. In person, she could read a slouch of the shoulders or the spark in someone’s eyes as part of her medicine. Instead, her inbox was full of tension, and most days she was left trying to treat people through a screen.
I heard stories like that – from burnt-out teachers, overwhelmed creatives, and leaders trying to lead from a distance. Since then, the face of work has continued to change. And somewhere between the tabs and the to-do lists, many of us are asking:
What happened to the connections?
In all that disruption, I kept wondering something else too:
What still holds us together?
In the coming weeks, I aim to provide you and the other readers of The Wonder HUB with ideas, tools, and exercises related to connection and belonging - in work, life, business.
In this week’s Wonder Dispatch:
Jeffrey’s Main Wondering: listening to what bonds us
Community Howl-Outs & Celebrations
On Jeffrey’s and Team TW’s Radar: Resources to stoke curiosity
many of us are feeling more than burnout
Currently, we are dealing with more than disrupted remote workspaces, AI technologies, and a crazed cultural-political background noise. Those are the outward disruptions. We are also learning to cope with the emotional aftermath.
For many of us, focus feels hard to hold onto. In our Wonder@Work Assessment, taken now by people across the globe, we ask this question:
“I feel capable of focusing - at work or at home on complex tasks for extended periods. 1 = Totally diagree, 10 = Totally agree.” Here’s the overall average:
6.5. And here are recent responses, below the already low average:
The kind of deep, meaningful work we once loved is now harder to access through the constant hum of distractions. For others, the real struggle isn’t focus but the need to feel grounded again, to know their work still has meaning, and to feel connected.
Maybe it all comes back to belonging
I sense that all of these feelings - exhaustion, difficulty with uncertainty, lack of meaning, anxiety - come back in part to not feeling a genuine sense of connection or belonging. I say this especially based on conversations I’ve been having with clients and with people curious about the TW Inner Circle MasterMind as well as in my own experiences.
I say this also based on my research and others’ research. Derek Thompson of The Atlantic has been tracking similar trends for a few years. He notes that
The average American spends 20% less time socializing than they did just 20 years ago. (1)
That’s a palpable yet near-invisible phenomenon to feel. But we’re feeling it.
Where does a sense of belonging come from?
In Tracking Wonder fashion, I started diving deep into this question 7 years ago, especially looking at elements of The Belonging Gap. (2) Behind this question, some of us are wondering whether our values still align with the work we’re doing or the world we’re doing it in. I’m actually proud of the continual, genuine belonging we foster in our events and especially in the TW Inner Circle MasterMind.
A MasterMinder told me this past week that she continues to connect each month with two MasterMinders from a previous cycle. I know of TW program participants from 10 years ago who continue to connect. It’s common for TW clients, participants, and members to send me photos of two or more of them connecting in person.
In all this unrest, though, there is a call to take stock and to ask,
“What do I want to bring forward?
Who do I want to be as a result of what I pay attention to and achieve?
Who am I doing this for?
Who do I want to do this with?”
The Who questions are as important as the What questions if not more so.
Who do I connect with? Who cares? Who do I care about enough to seek novel, useful solutions to what ails them or gives them problems?
At the heart of these questions is a longing to belong to something greater than our small selves.
When I consider these questions for myself and for Tracking Wonder, I reflect because sometimes the clearest way forward is by remembering what once mattered most.
Looking back to move forward - together
What holds a group of people together through change goes beyond shared goals or job titles.
When I think back to the early days of Tracking Wonder, I remember listening more than leading. People were showing up – writers, entrepreneurs, executives, accomplished professionals, educators, startup founders, org directors, designers all from different fields, saying the same thing in different ways:
“I want to do meaningful work. I want to create something real. But not at the cost of my values. And I want to do it with other people.”
That’s when I started to notice a pattern. These weren’t traditional business minds. These were very accomplished, successful, and ambitious people many of whom also were makers, thinkers, question-askers – people doing business the creative way.
So I gave it a name: business artists.
Business artists work like artists: curious, intentional, committed to craft.
Business artists experiment like scientists: willing to try, to fail, to try again - methodically. They prototype to break perfectionism.
Business artists earn like entrepreneurs: bringing ideas into the world in ways that are distinct, resonant, valuable, profitable, and sustainable.
Back then, it felt important just to say it out loud and to name what so many of us were already doing. Dom and I even made a short manifesto video, Be a Business Artist, to make it official. People started saying, “I’m a business artist!” aloud, as if the video gave them permission. And as momentum built, we gathered what we were learning into the 12 Principles for Business As Unusual – a creative compass for how we work, lead, make, love, and live.
What still holds us together?
So I asked around our community, clients, and colleagues doing this work, “What values still hold us together?”
The responses came in from all over the globe, and they were honest and thoughtful. They reminded me that even in a broken world, some things remain constant and true, real and beautiful. Like wonder.
Some values still affect the way we work, create, and show up.
Many responses from the Community fell into these categories:
Openness:
To new experiences, to different views, to not having all the answers. Our collective openness looks expansive like the wide-blue sky, like ongoing learning, and a quiet willingness to be changed by what we encounter.
Integrity
We aim to do the work we’re called to - even amidst work we have to do. We follow our genius and reclaim our young genius as much as possible - even when we get thrown off-center (like every week). We “see” each other’s genius so we can reflect back to one another when we seem to be following a “should” instead of a “must.” We aim for coherence.
We aim to stay connected to what feels real and true, beautiful and possible even when it’s hard.
Purposeful Creativity & Achievement
Yes, we achieve our W.I.S.E. Goals - but not always “on time.” We focus less on “getting things done” and more on doing work we care about and provides a sustainable return. We pay attention to work that feels true and means something, even if no one else sees it right away.
Genuine Connection & Collaboration:
We’re not transactional. We share mutual care and encouragement for one another’s fulfillment, well-being, and success. We run as packs - Support Packs, Wild Packs, Nurture Packs. We fly at times like a flock. Connection is wonder’s Flock Facet.
A time to listen again
Based on experience, I think I know what holds us together at The Wonder HUB. But we get new members and subscribers every week.
So now, I’m listening to the noise out there in the world and also the voices inside this community: what you all are feeling, building, and longing for.
I want to lean in more on conversations, surveys, and in small ways of asking: How can Tracking Wonder and The Wonder Hub keep serving what matters most to you now - and to us as an international pack of change-makers?
Because if we’re going to keep co-creating a meaningful future, it won’t be by pushing harder alone.
It’ll be by paying attention to what’s already working, and what’s quietly calling us forward - together.
It’ll come from investing our finite attention, energy, time, and resources into connecting, collaborating, and drawing out our collective wisdom as well as our collective creative intelligence - both remotely and locally in-person.
So, I’d love to start the conversation here:
Your Turn to Wonder
»> What values still feel alive in your work or community right now? What’s holding you and others together?
»> How can Tracking Wonder and The Wonder Hub keep serving what matters most to you now - and to us as an international pack of change-makers?
Feel free to reply or share in our Wonder HUB thread. I read each note. Thanks for your contribution to the conversation.
Community Howl-Outs & Celebrations
Former clients Libby O’Loghlin (a climate tech co-founder and awesome human being) and Renée Laplante (a Footprint coach - best title) have published their stellar book DECARBONISTA: A Refreshing Guide to Climate Savvy Living. DECARBONISTA is an essential guide to make a difference by starting with your own self-sustainability so you can make a difference for the planet’s sustainability.
On Jeffrey’s and Team TW’s Radar
Does He Return the Shopping Cart? Self-Generated Character Tests (ProvoKed |
) - examines the wonder-related phenomenon of how to bust our snap judgments (what I call our Bias Box)Boosting Team Creativity in the Workplace (Jeffrey |
)(1) The Great Friendship Collapse: Inside the Anti-Social Century (Big Think |
)(2) The Belonging Gap: Why We Feel Alone and How to Bridge It (Jeffrey | Psychology Today)
The Wonder@Work Assessment: see how it’s going for you
Well, I’m honored to work with you here, and I’ll see you soon.
Thanks for running with me,
Jeffrey
Reintroduction to new trackers: I’m author of Tracking Wonder (Sounds True), a Next Big Idea Club finalist. Fast Company, MindBody Green, Psychology Today, and other leading outlets - I’m grateful to say - have featured my insights.
For over 25 years, I’ve equipped entrepreneurs, creatives, and teams to think more expansively and bring more meaning into their work so they can advance what matters most. Without burnout. Learn more about Tracking Wonder Consultancy here and The Wonder HUB here.
I also live as a poet, partner, and papa to two extraordinary human beings.
Integrity. Such an important facet of wonder. Glad to see that this was one of the key categories.