Living In Your Stretch Zone

Why do we repeat the same routines while hoping for different results? It is worth asking — particularly within our own community — whether familiar conventions are still helping you move forward, or quietly holding you still.

At a Connect4Better event at Novotel Blackfriars in February 2016, the Mayor of Lambeth, Councillor Donatus Obilor Anyanwu, encouraged the audience to break out of what he called a “Nollywood mindset”. The writer described the wider idea as living in a “stretch zone”.

The speaker linked some of his own progress to a willingness to try unfamiliar things and relate to people from different racial and cultural backgrounds. He observed that it was possible to know more about events in one’s country of origin than about the place where one currently lived and worked.

Which leads to the central question: how relevant are you to your environment? Relevance is not only a matter of technical skill. When candidates bring similar experience and education, an employer may also consider how each person will work within the existing culture. Someone comfortable building relationships may be better placed to connect people and make things happen.

The practical advice was to accept a coffee, attend a retreat, or join an after-work gathering. Living in a stretch zone did not mean compromising deeply held beliefs. Someone who did not drink alcohol, for example, could still attend, choose a soft drink, be fully present, have fun, and talk to people. The goal was not conformity; it was learning about the environment, widening relationships, and staying relevant.