When The Journey IS The Conference
By Stanley Fong
This week, I travelled to Barcelona for the HSD Gathering conference - a global community of kindred folks who practise human systems dynamics (HSD).
Unfortunately, I travelled through London, which experienced one of the largest flight disruptions in recent years. I lost one day (and my luggage...), but I was able to make alternative plans to take a train into Paris and then a flight from there to Barcelona.
Unfortunately, my flight from Paris to Barcelona also got cancelled (hey, lightning can strike twice, huh...?), and I lost yet another day.
A wild journey throws up a lot of learning, and here are some of mine.
We learn the most when things break down
Living in Singapore, a well-organised society, my days are often quite smooth. So smooth in fact, that small minor things can frustrate me much. But by and large, life goes on smoothly. The days and weeks, even months sometimes, can go by in a blur.
So I don’t notice how much of life has been organised and optimised for me, and I take most of that for granted. Until things break down.
This week, when the patterns changed drastically, and quite unrecognisably, it forced me to become highly attuned to things around me. It made me prioritise what things mattered most to me, and what things were secondary (and I could let go). I had to weigh choices and make quick decisions - in this case, assessing that the disruptions may not resolve so soon and a better bet was to cross the English Channel into Paris. For someone who rarely travels, it felt super wild to make the snap decision to go to Paris. But I felt super alive too! I will always remember this moment.
Sometimes, the journey is more valuable than the destination
By the time I reached the conference, I had missed 2 of 3 days. I had missed so much. In fact, at one point, I even pondered whether to still go.
Funny, right? I travel with the intent to learn and deepen my practice of HSD at the conference. Turns out, I learned and deepened my practice the most, in the journey with all the twists and turns that came with it. Nothing beats learning about messiness, chaos and complexity, than actually going through it.
Do I wish the disruption did not happen? Of course. But once it happened, I chose to not have regrets. For the journey produced the richest learning I could get, more so than the destination.
We are never alone
Of course, things turned out well in the end thanks to my traveling mate - she is also a HSD practitioner. It helps a lot to have company in those messy times (and two HSD practitioners).
But there were many others who shone in those messy moments. My friend who lived in London who put me up for the night when my first flight was cancelled. The airline staff in Paris who went out of her way to help me and my friend get us on the shortlist of limited accommodations the airlines was able to secure. The elderly lady whom I helped with her huge and heavy luggage, and who became a nice third travelling mate. (She is not alone too!)
These are the human connections - the good, the not-so-good - that often operate under the surface. We may not always see or notice them, but it’s these intricate networks of interactions that shape so much of our experiences and what goes on around us.
When not-so-good things happen, they are shaped by these interactions. When good things happen, they too are shaped by these interactions. The more we learn to see them, the more the mysteries of life and its confusing patterns make sense. Human systems are endlessly messy, yet also unfailingly fascinating. And, if you have an optimistic bent like me, they are amazing.
Stanley Fong is an OD practitioner working and living in Singapore. He supports leaders and organisations in the public and nonprofit sectors to create thriving human systems. He has been practising HSD since 2018.
