In his Steppenwolf Hermann Hesse wrote, “Learn what is to be taken seriously and laugh at the rest.”

Working with a young leader, this perspective led us to discuss how frustration could transform his attitude from being an optimist to feeling overly concerned by the problems that had started appearing.

Before shifting into his new role, he had done a great job of developing a plan he could implement. Now he had stepped into his new role and realized that the conditions had changed. It seemed to him that, as it is often said, his plan had not survived for more than a few days.

However, once asked about his plan and what had been at its core a different reality appeared. His core idea had not changed and didn’t need to change. He could continue to work on it independently from the changed circumstances. His main idea had been to work on the sense of community. He wanted to enhance the sense of connection in his team and create a space allowing for relationships to develop into partnerships.  For him, this was how he could foster engagement and help people find pleasure in their projects.

None of this needed to change. The only thing circumstances could change were details in the way he would implement his plan. Everything else could be pursued.

Noticing what he needed to take seriously in his plan he was free to laugh at the rest.