Disruption—it’s the word that keeps your team up at night (sometimes in a literal sense).
2024 kept everyone on their toes with disruptions hitting from every angle:
- Tech Turmoil: The CrowdStrike-Microsoft outage and Change Healthcare cyberattack reminded us just how vulnerable systems can be.
- Fraud Goes Next-Level: The $25M Arup deepfake scam proved that deception is now a high-tech art form.
- Nature’s Power Plays: A drought bottlenecked the Panama Canal, and Hurricane Helene swept through with devastating force.
- Institutional Woes: The UK Post Office Horizon scandal brought a stark reminder that old systems can carry big risks.
This year was a masterclass in resilience-building—or at least, survival.
Whether it’s a cyberattack, a supply chain collapse, or Mother Nature on a mission, disruption is rarely something you welcome with open arms. But disruption, as painful as it is, has a silver lining. It’s the best teacher you never asked for.
Gratitude and chaos might sound like an odd couple. But leaders who embrace gratitude during times of upheaval don’t just survive—their teams innovate, inspire, and thrive. Research from the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley shows that gratitude can enhance resilience and improve team cohesion during challenging times. A study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that leaders who express gratitude create a ripple effect, fostering trust, reducing stress, and increasing team performance. This alignment of emotional and psychological safety empowers teams to adapt and innovate, even amid uncertainty and disruption.
Lessons in the Mess
Disruption has a way of giving us a crash course in what really matters. Sure, it’s chaotic, messy, and occasionally downright ugly, but it also shines a spotlight on strengths we didn’t even know we had—and let’s be honest, a little grit and grace go a long way.
Spotlighting Heroes
Gratitude flips the script from “What went wrong?” to “Who stepped up?” It’s about recognizing the all-stars who turned chaos into comeback stories, powered by determination, caffeine, and sheer willpower. Let’s make it count:
- Kudos Canvas: Set up a collaborative mural (or virtual board) where everyone can post shout-outs to the miracle workers. Bonus points for including a coffee emoji.
- Hero Spotlight Stories: Add a human touch by sharing these moments in newsletters or team meetings. A little storytelling goes a long way in showing off your team’s superpowers.
- Gratitude Mapping: Use visuals to highlight key moments of brilliance, connecting them to the people who made it all happen. Instant morale boost guaranteed.
Highlighting Agility
Nothing tests adaptability like a crisis. Gratitude lets you bottle those reactive moments and reframe them as proof of what’s possible when the A-team shows up. Here’s how to celebrate agility:
- Agility Awards: Because sometimes the MVP is the person who found the workaround nobody saw coming. Hand out (metaphorical) trophies during the after-action review.
- Before-and-After Timeline: Show the journey. A simple timeline of key decisions and quick pivots can be a powerful reminder of your team’s resilience.
- Adaptability Case Studies: Turn your best “figure-it-out moments” into teachable stories for future training. Bonus: they make you look really prepared next time.
Clarifying Priorities
Disruption has a way of cutting through the noise and shining a light on what really matters. Gratitude helps you embrace the clarity that comes when all the fluff is stripped away. Here’s how to focus:
- Priority Heatmap: Visualize the critical areas or tasks that made the biggest impact during the chaos. Instant clarity, with a side of insight.
- “What Mattered Most” Debrief: Make time to discuss the top three priorities that surfaced during the crisis and how they align with your goals.
- Decision Retrospective: Break down the big calls made under pressure. Did they align with your values and objectives? What’s the takeaway for next time?
The Executive Playbook for Gratitude
Gratitude isn’t just for Thanksgiving speeches—it’s a powerful leadership tool. Here’s how you can work it into your disruption response strategy:
- Celebrate the Chaos Conquerors: Your team just dodged a bullet (or several). Take a moment to shout out the victories—big and small. Recognize the people and processes that saved the day.
- Turn Post-Mortems into Toasts: After the dust settles, don’t just analyze what went wrong. Look at what went right and who made it happen. Raise a metaphorical glass (or an actual one) to those wins.
- Model It from the Top: As a leader, your attitude sets the tone. A simple “thank you” from you has more impact than a thousand donuts in the breakroom. (But hey, donuts don’t hurt either.)
Gratitude Sparks Innovation
Here’s where it gets interesting: gratitude doesn’t just make everyone feel good—it clears the path for innovation. When you shift the narrative from “we survived” to “what can we do next,” gratitude becomes the launchpad for bold ideas and better systems.
Disruption has a way of exposing inefficiencies and highlighting opportunities. Gratitude keeps you and your team focused on the possibilities, not just the problems. That’s how you turn chaos into competitive advantage.
Here are some practical ways to channel gratitude into action and innovation:
- Future-Forward Brainstorming: Host a “Lessons to Leaps” workshop where the team reviews what worked, what didn’t, and what could be reimagined. Use gratitude as the foundation to build excitement for future possibilities.
- Gratitude-Led Ideation Sessions: Start your innovation meetings by recognizing contributions and progress. When people feel valued, they’re more likely to bring their best ideas to the table.
- Opportunity Mapping: Create a visual map of inefficiencies or gaps exposed during the disruption and identify where these could spark improvement or innovation.
- Crowdsourced Solutions: Open up a platform or a shared document where team members can propose ideas based on what they learned during the crisis. Tie submissions back to the specific strengths they demonstrated.
- Pilot Bold Ideas: Select one or two game-changing ideas that emerged during the crisis, and give them a trial run. Frame the pilot as a celebration of the team’s resilience and ingenuity.
Gratitude transforms survival into momentum. It’s the fuel that takes you from “we made it” to “what’s next,” positioning your team to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and transformation.
Taking a Minute
Let’s face it—disruption isn’t going anywhere. But while you’re busy managing the next big curveball, don’t forget to look around and appreciate the lessons, the wins, and yes, even the mess. Gratitude isn’t about sugarcoating tough times; it’s about recognizing the value in the struggle and using it to fuel what’s next.
So the next time you’re knee-deep in chaos, take a moment. Send the thank-you note—to your team, to the process that held up, and even (begrudgingly) to the disruption itself. Because when the dust settles, you’ll see that disruption wasn’t just a problem to solve—it was an opportunity in disguise.
