Containers under Pressure

In that part of my world that is coaching, we talk about "containers". Containers provide the structure to ensure safety when the pressure increases - in a conversation, organisation, society, and our planetary ecosystem.

At its root level, as individuals, we are containers for all those pressures in our lives, and the strength of that container determines our mental and physical health.

What seems clear at the moment is that whichever container we look at, pressure is increasing. This morning, New York is under a state of emergency due to a "historic" weather event. The UK government is a nest of blame games, from Afghanistan to Education and Healthcare funding. Businesses are under pressure as the assumptions made in business plans prove illusory, from labour availability to supply chain stability. The list goes on, and it seems clear the pressures will build. There is much pent-up energy yet to be released from years of a narrow focus on financial growth.

There is a calculus to contai…