Do you like surprises? Today’s show is all about surprise, but not of the birthday variety. We’re talking more about shaking things up and coping with the uncertainties of life. Many people love the unpredictability of living life “on the edge” with reckless abandon, while others prefer a more structured routine, which might also be called “a rut.” Whichever way you would answer the question, you’d have to agree that surprises make us smile and keep us interested and engaged. Maybe it’s time we took a closer look at this fascinating emotion and cultivated more surprise in our lives!
Tania Luna has an unusual title. She calls herself “The Surprisologist.” Her work revolves around her two passions: surprise and learning. As co-founder and CEO of Surprise Industries and partner at LifeLabs Learning, Tania thinks deeply about how to delight and how to help individuals and teams thrive in uncertain circumstances, developing the bonds needed to get through them. At LifeLabs, she helps passionate companies like Etsy, Google, Squarespace, and Warby Parker scale their skills and culture. On a mission to inspire people to embrace the unexpected, Tania has written a book about the psychology of surprise called Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected. It’s a fascinating look at how we can handle and harness surprise in our work, relationships, and everyday lives.
A surprise path
Tania Luna was president of the advertising club in high school and thought for sure that she had decided on a career path. An advisor urged her to pursue psychology in college as a path to a successful advertising career. Tania never expected to fall in love with the psychology field and be able to use her first workplace as a “sandbox” for experimentation. She began as Special Projects Manager and progressed to the now-obsolete title of Organizational Development Manager. She says, “The manager at the company was up for letting me experiment, which was perfect for me because I love learning something and then applying and testing it out.”
“Culture ADD, not culture FIT”
More than 15 years ago, Tania Luna became interested in an Inc. magazine article about “company culture.” She loved the combination of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and organizational development. Her manager was afraid people would misinterpret “culture” as something related to ethnicity. She shares how people on both sides of the innovation curve respond to the concept, and how some companies want to make sure their “culture” doesn’t prevent them from evolving into newer versions of themselves. Along with this change in the business world, she has noticed how the past trend in the long, miserable hiring process has given way to a bigger focus on data and finding what really works.
Observations around bias, diversity, and inclusion
Our current political climate has impacted these concepts greatly. Never before have companies wanted to include diversity and reduce bias. People don’t really know what diversity means other than to increase inclusion and belonging, as there is still an uphill battle to make a total beneficial environment in the workplace. LifeLabs is committed to asking questions around how to create inclusion in environments where diversity can thrive. The best way to do this is to make sure EVERY voice is heard in meetings and to create norms for feedback.
Training isn’t enough
Tania is a supporter of development programs being integrated and not just a box to be checked off for management. This behavior has to be modeled and enforced by management. It’s about creating a new ecosystem. Tania shares her formula for “Behavior is a function of the person and the environment.” This is where culture change happens.
Approaching organizational development with gratitude and surprise
Surprise is critical to get the brain’s juices flowing; it interrupts all other cognitive processes. Tania says that the role of the manager today has shifted from replicating desired behavior to helping people thrive in the midst of constant change and uncertainty.
How people rate their managers
When you ask, “Am I learning and growing?”, you are evaluating your manager. Do you as an employee receive frequent feedback? This is also a reflection of management success. People want to feel that there is career progression available to them. The manager’s responsibility is to create an environment of constant growth.
Living with awe
There is a difference in curiosity and awe and surprise. We experience awe when we feel very small, looking at something vast. It’s the idea of being relatively small as a part of the universe. The more awe you feel, the less you feel the passage of time. Conversely, when we fail to find awe in our world, then we feel more keenly the passage of time. When we find mastery and beauty in nature, we feel awe. Shouldn’t we all look for ways to be “awed” every day?
Being effective at working remotely
Some people think the ONLY option in working remotely is working at home, so that must be the best solution. There are other options that work well for many people, and the necessary factor is to understand what the best work environment is for YOU. Be intentional about identifying the best and don’t assume that what works well for someone else is the answer for you. Studies have shown that the face-to-face connections we have with others can enhance the way people like and trust each other. When you work remotely, you have to be intentional about connections with others and be explicit about norms for specific situations. Tania shares suggestions about connecting with co-workers with micro-steps.
How to incorporate surprise
Tania says that surprise is under the surface of all her thoughts. Too much surprise can bring anxiety, confusion, and no real role descriptions. Too little surprise results in boredom, stagnation, and predictability. Tania Luna enjoys teaching people how to face surprises without freaking out. She suggests bringing in props to training and meetings to bring an element of surprise. We should make learning in the workplace physical, engaging, three-dimensional, and experiential – like an effective teacher in school. Why do we teach adults in boring, predictable ways? When people expect surprise they stay curious, tuned in, and playful.
Tania Luna’s interest in surprise
While in college, Tania Luna started a company with her sister called Surprise Industries. It was designed to get people out of their comfort zones. For Tania, sending people out on adventures became a metaphor for how to live life. Helping people “step into surprise” became her passion, and she became good at engineering surprise. An ideal environment has certain things that are safe and certain along with elements of surprise. People crave freshness because routine and monotony make people feel withered and dying. Constant learning and growing are healthy!
Strategizing with a co-author
Tania met up with her co-author, LeeAnn Renninger, and they connected on a collaboration project. “Our minds fell in love and then we had a book baby!” One of the surprising things they found is that no one has cornered the market on surprise. In fact, there have not been any notable researchers on the subject since the 1800’s! It’s one of the most fascinating human experience emotions that is common to all of us in many forms and situations. Organizations can use Tania Luna’s “pre-mortem” technique to plan for the unexpected and adjust in the present moment when things don’t work out. It’s all about responding in the heat of the moment instead of making the perfect plan for the future.
Highlights of the Episode:
- 3:06 – Changes in “company culture”
- 9:32 – Observations about bias
- 13:20 – Why training is not enough to be your “best self”
- 18:05 – How gratitude and surprise make us thrive
- 21:26 – Greater demands on organizations today
- 23:05 – A growth environment full of awe
- 28:57 – Being effective at working remotely
- 34:27 – Connecting the dots between psychology and surprise
- 35:47 – One thing you can do to incorporate more surprise
- 37:36 – Why a book about surprise?
- 41:12 – Strategizing with a co-author
- 44:10 – Some surprising things about surprise
- 45:02 – How organizations can use this work to better handle surprise
- 47:02 – Tania’s favorite thing to do when situations go horribly wrong
Resources Mentioned:
- Tania’s workshops: www.lifelabslearning.com – Find Tania’s virtual workshops and use the code “NextFem” for a $50 discount!
- Tania’s Website: www.surpriseindustries.com
- Tania on LinkedIn
The Fem Five:
1. Favorite book for women?
- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
2. Favorite self-care hack?
- Writing fiction
3. Best piece of advice and who gave it to you?
- “Ben Datner told me, ‘It’s so great that you’re miserable. This is the perfect opportunity for you to learn what you need, what you care about, and what you value’.”
4. Female thought leader of CEO you’re into right now?
5. One piece of advice you’d give your five years younger self?
Listen to this podcast! Stop wondering whether you should dream big or dream practical – and just go for BIG!
Last Time on The NextFem Podcast
Doing It All Before Turning 30: Wife, Mother, C-Suite Executive, Business Owner – with Lauren Rodriguez
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