It takes a village to launch a book
Yesterday, Flexperts was finally launched into the world. Woohoo!
The launch event itself was live, in-person and it was so great being in a room with so many people to share flex ideas and celebrate. Thank you so much to all of you who came, asked great questions and took home your very own copy of the book!
Something like a book launch takes so much planning and preparation, yet when the time comes, it flies by in what feels like an instant. It’s been hard for me to even register how it went, so it was incredibly helpful when someone shared their takeout notes with me. Here are their insights and captured quotes from the Q&A session:
Flex is about “creating an environment where that choice (of flex work) becomes available to everyone.”
“If we haven’t got meaningful choice, it’s not flex.”
The appetite for different types of work is high – at least two-thirds of people want more flexibility, and not just hybrid or flexible hours arrangements.
When you ask people what their number one challenge is with flexible work, they often say disconnection. That doesn’t mean you don’t do it. It means that becomes a focus for discussion and problem-solving – how to create team cohesion in a flex environment.
“If we’re not doing anything new then we’re falling behind.” That’s a great rallying cry!
The Q&A was masterfully led by the fantastic Anna Hughes, founder and host of the Books That Work podcast. With Anna leading us, we were able to cover so much ground in the short amount of time we had yesterday.
The one reflection I have had is that the last weeks and months, leading up to this moment, was a huge team effort. It truly takes a village to launch a book!
So many people have been there throughout the entire book process, and some were there to offer invaluable, practical support on launch day. Whether it was offering to support the book sales, event promotion, welcoming people in at the door, pre-reading the book to give me an insight into the reader’s experience, or simply giving me a cup of tea that I desperately needed, but hadn’t managed to grab! Flexperts simply wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the village that launched it.
Those people who generously gave their time, support and guidance, are all people who connect with the broader purpose of the power of flex. They, like me, can see that if we can do flex well in our organisations, we will all benefit from it, across all our communities.
Being connected to others is something I’ve thought a lot about in the last year or so. We have so many deep, purposeful connections in our work. When we come together around a shared idea, so much more becomes possible.
My question to you, fresh from the launch yesterday is, “What’s your ‘book launch’?”
What work are you doing that you need a village to support you with? What’s the deeper purpose of that work that others will connect to? When you become really clear on that, you’ll be able to make that launch happen and feel the support of the village while it happens. Without these villages, we won’t make the bigger changes happen that we know we all need.
If you want to buy a copy of the book, you can grab your copy here: https://www.gillianbrookes.co.nz/shop/flexperts
Thanks and enjoy!