Working in a Bubble, for Better or Worse

In your daily work, how much of your day is spent interacting with other people? How much is you working by yourself, or in a consistent partnership or small team? What experiences have you had of feeling ‘in a bubble’ – zeroed in on work (either solo or with partners) and losing track of time and/or the world outside your bubble?

Recently, within the span of just a few hours, I heard two very different stories of people who described being in a bubble. What jumped out at me immediately is that one experience was overwhelmingly positive, and one was isolating. Let’s unpack the two situations and see what we can learn.

I have been learning over the last few weeks about the programs offered by Partakers, a Boston-area non-profit created “to reduce prison recidivism through essential educational opportunities, key skills training, and the power of community and mentor relationships.” Their programs take two forms: College Behind Bars is a program in which volunteer mentors meet with incarcerated people monthly as they work towards earning a college degree over the course of four years; The Partakers Empowerment Program is a 14-week re-entry program in which volunteer mentors support formerly incarcerated and soon-to-be-released individuals as they return to their communities. (Both programs have a backlog and are seeking volunteers, and I’m sure this is true for similar programs in your area if this is of interest to you!)

While sharing about her experiences over the last few years, one of the mentors for the College Behind Bars program told a story that she had heard from others also. She said that although the process of entering the prison can bring various logistical hurdles (bringing a change of clothes, and not being able to wear jewelry of any kind, nor bring anything in except a debit card to use a vending machine), and meeting your mentee can be nerve-wracking for the first few visits, a common experience happened repeatedly: When sitting at a table and engaging in a conversation with your mentee, she said, the whole rest of the visitation room – the rest of the world, in fact – seems to fade out of existence. Suddenly, she shared, it’s just you, your mentor partner, and your mentee. A powerful and profound experience.

The second story was a very different environment: Liverpool FC’s home stadium, Anfield. Historically, opposing players have described it as the most intimidating stadium in which to play; “cauldron” is a commonly-used word. The fans are famous for their vociferous support, and the anthem of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (which carries a powerful history) is particularly overwhelming for visiting players. Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has said that with the pitch being four feet narrower than most, and with the low roof and seats right to the line, “when the place gets going it feels like the whole stadium is falling in on top of you”. Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde, said after a game: “The noise [here] is not ordinary. It’s the toughest stadium I have ever played in.” The fans are often described as the team’s “12th man.”

Sure enough, I heard stories of opposing players describing being on the field at Anfield as an experience where everything more than about ten feet away from them fades out of existence, drowned out by the roar of the crowd’s support for Liverpool. All the usual communication and team dynamics are disrupted, and it can be quite isolating.

So what do these two disparate stories have to offer us and our teams this week?

This Week’s Tips:

1. Notice your own bubble experiences – positive and negative. Where/when have you had these experiences? What do you notice about them? Are these experiences predictable? If so, how can you lean into the positive experiences, and prepare for the challenging ones?
2. Manufacture your own (positive) bubble experience this week. This will involve a change to your usual routines and habits – possibly away from technology, being unavailable to others, and perhaps in a different location. Forest bathing, retreats, digital detox, disrupting muscle memory, active listening, and reclaiming rest are all options we’ve written about in the past – feel free to look through some older Building Bridges Leadership articles for ideas. Or perhaps you can create a bubble experience with a colleague by meeting at a coffee shop neither of you have been to before, putting away your phones, and having an intentional one-to-one conversation.
3. Sports teams often talk about having “home court advantage” – Liverpool FC feels like a prime example of that. What does your “home court advantage” look like on a personal level, and what does it look like for your team? Talk about that in a team meeting. Are there things that bring your team pride or connect you to something bigger than your day-to-day work (in a similar way to the Anfield crowd singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”)?

Try these out this week, and let us know how it goes – we’d love to hear from you.

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