I saw the American rock band Tom Petty (sadly since deceased) and the Heartbreakers perform and bring a sense of warmth and good feeling to a rain sodden Isle of Wight Festival a few years ago in 2012. They sang in one of their standout songs “Learning to Fly” that “Coming down is the hardest thing.” They probably weren’t thinking of the professional working world when they composed these words in 1991, but it does remind me of one of the challenges we face that is not always recognised.
This is the sense of anti-climax or even let down that always seems to come after the conclusion of a big deal or major transaction. You work flat out for long hours over many months and occasionally years with a close tight knit team creating, negotiation and closing the deal. It is complex and tough. But you have a sense of purpose and of achievement concluding with the euphoria of signing and the immediate celebrations, often with the other side now the tension of being on the other side of the table has gone.
But then you come back down to earth. Tiredness kept at bay by adrenalin kicks in. The team you have worked so closely with week after week month after month disperses almost overnight, and all the mundane work and admin put off for a long time suddenly surfaces. There is even a term for it – post project depression or PPD if you like acronyms.
Here is an interesting article right on topic 5 Ways to Battle Post-Event Depression: Life After An Event which discusses the issue in the context of major event planning commenting After the extreme “high” and adrenaline rush of finishing a major project that has been an obsession, comes a low or sadness of lacking that sense of purpose. It could be a writer completing a novel, a runner after completing a marathon, but whatever the task, the project owner is left feeling empty after the storm has passed.
Whilst this one Getting Past Done: What to Do After You’ve Finished a Big Project sums the challenge up well: There’s no feeling in the world quite like the mixture of triumph and sadness that comes after finishing a project you’ve been working on for months or even years. On one hand, you’re done and can finally release your finished product, whatever it is, into the world. On the other hand, though, completing a big goal leaves a little emptiness in your life, like sending your kids off to college — one of the major driving forces in your life is gone.
There is even a good Harvard Business Review article on the topic Staying Motivated After a Major Achievement commenting When we think about achieving a major goal, we picture the exhilaration of reaching new heights. What we often fail to anticipate, however, is that once we’ve scaled that mountain, it can be surprisingly chilly on the other side. After a period of massive productivity we have to revert back to life as usual and settle back into an established workplace routine.
It articulates the issue well In many cases, reverting back to a predictable routine also means the work is no longer as stimulatingand suggests finding time to recover and restock your energy and taking time out to refocus and reprioritise concluding Ultimately, how you approach your work in the days and weeks following a big win can be just as critical to your long-term success as the achievement itself. By anticipating and proactively addressing a depleted mental and physical state, you’re more apt to turn an isolated victory into a consistent winning streak.
I think this is really about recognise and anticipating the inevitable let down after the conclusion of a major deal and finding ways to manage which can include working out lessons learned and communicating these to colleagues.
And rushing lemming like into another project without pause to think, which happens in some professional practices, may cure the post project blues for sure but is not good for stress levels and negates any learning opportunity.
As the American philosopher John Dewy said “We do not learn from experience – we learn from reflecting on experience.”
This is the sense of anti-climax or even let down that always seems to come after the conclusion of a big deal or major transaction. You work flat out for long hours over many months and occasionally years with a close tight knit team creating, negotiation and closing the deal. It is complex and tough. But you have a sense of purpose and of achievement concluding with the euphoria of signing and the immediate celebrations, often with the other side now the tension of being on the other side of the table has gone.
But then you come back down to earth. Tiredness kept at bay by adrenalin kicks in. The team you have worked so closely with week after week month after month disperses almost overnight, and all the mundane work and admin put off for a long time suddenly surfaces. There is even a term for it – post project depression or PPD if you like acronyms.
Here is an interesting article right on topic 5 Ways to Battle Post-Event Depression: Life After An Event which discusses the issue in the context of major event planning commenting After the extreme “high” and adrenaline rush of finishing a major project that has been an obsession, comes a low or sadness of lacking that sense of purpose. It could be a writer completing a novel, a runner after completing a marathon, but whatever the task, the project owner is left feeling empty after the storm has passed.
Whilst this one Getting Past Done: What to Do After You’ve Finished a Big Project sums the challenge up well: There’s no feeling in the world quite like the mixture of triumph and sadness that comes after finishing a project you’ve been working on for months or even years. On one hand, you’re done and can finally release your finished product, whatever it is, into the world. On the other hand, though, completing a big goal leaves a little emptiness in your life, like sending your kids off to college — one of the major driving forces in your life is gone.
There is even a good Harvard Business Review article on the topic Staying Motivated After a Major Achievement commenting When we think about achieving a major goal, we picture the exhilaration of reaching new heights. What we often fail to anticipate, however, is that once we’ve scaled that mountain, it can be surprisingly chilly on the other side. After a period of massive productivity we have to revert back to life as usual and settle back into an established workplace routine.
It articulates the issue well In many cases, reverting back to a predictable routine also means the work is no longer as stimulatingand suggests finding time to recover and restock your energy and taking time out to refocus and reprioritise concluding Ultimately, how you approach your work in the days and weeks following a big win can be just as critical to your long-term success as the achievement itself. By anticipating and proactively addressing a depleted mental and physical state, you’re more apt to turn an isolated victory into a consistent winning streak.
I think this is really about recognise and anticipating the inevitable let down after the conclusion of a major deal and finding ways to manage which can include working out lessons learned and communicating these to colleagues.
And rushing lemming like into another project without pause to think, which happens in some professional practices, may cure the post project blues for sure but is not good for stress levels and negates any learning opportunity.
As the American philosopher John Dewy said “We do not learn from experience – we learn from reflecting on experience.”
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