Wild Thing
Creative perspective from the wilderness
Our Grand Tetons nature guide, Neal, said that after thirty days in the wilderness, you realize you’re a social animal. We need people.
He told us about spending weeks in Alaska helping Indigenous communities secure their food supply for winter — no indoor plumbing, running water, or modern conveniences. Coming home to Wyoming, he notices how much most people complain.
He sees how bound we are to time. Ten or fifteen minute increments mean everything to people in the city’s hustle. But for centuries, all that mattered was sunrise and sunset. The exact time things occurred didn’t matter.
There’s a big focus on productivity these days. We spend ample resources maximizing (aka maxxing) efficiencies across our working lives. The enduring — and often elusive — element most people seek, though, is trusted relationships.
We crave connection.
My recent family vacation to Jackson and Yellowstone gave me perspective on where my focus lies, and where I might benefit from shifting the dial. As I help bring more creativity to the workplace, challenging my clients to anchor to a shared vision and steady themselves for change, it helps to remember the natural sources of energy required for this level of transformation. If we feel unsafe or threatened in our environment, innovation stays out of reach.
The trip made me hypersensitive to my situational moment: sandwiched between a husband and kids who are all home with me, and parents who are thankfully still healthy. We spent late evenings hunched over a partially completed jigsaw puzzle, hunting for that perfect piece together. These shared experiences are fleeting, which makes them all the more beautiful.
It’s good to be alive. To be here. To feel my heart soften before it inevitably breaks with time.
We breathed the crisp air. The soothing, soon-to-be-summer sun was a welcome presence against cool winds. New blisters on my heels didn’t bother me much, especially with high-elevation sleepy afternoons. My daughter worked on the puzzle as my son practiced his “howdy, partners,” tipping his new Stetson Junior.
This time together felt like a gift I didn’t want to open, for fear of spoiling it. I didn’t want to use up the last drop. Perhaps you, too, find that breaks from technology, screens, and daily pressures help bring renewed attention to the human experience.
Being fully present requires knowing the moment won’t last. Working in teams can be like that, too. We lock into a rhythm of building together — collaborating, sharing ideas, enabling change — and it feels like the start of a new season. It’s easy to take for granted, but that team chemistry is by design. It takes work. And while it’s resilient, it’s also fragile and in need of protection, much like the natural ecosystem around us.
We had the wild luck of spotting a Cub of the Year (COY) up in a tree with its mom. My own cubs played on a converted ski lift chair swing and plunked on an untuned piano on our walk home. No appointments or activities to rush off to.
One morning, we woke up early for Neal’s guided tour to see a moose step into the morning light. We found a herd of bachelor elk grazing in the sage brush. A pregnant pronghorn observed us as we stared back through our binoculars.
The wild complaints of our lives feel silly against the backdrop of this magnificence. Creativity flows when we’re in sync with nature. When there’s calm certainty, the leader of the pack signals cleanly and all can follow. No second-guessing.
In our daily grind, it’s easy to spot the bison who lock horns and wrestle for dominance. But once they shake off the conflict and get over themselves, they return to the herd. If we’re lucky, they realize the strife was nothing more than ego getting in the way of creating great things together.
Leadership lessons are in abundance out here, almost mocking us as we try to reinvent new ways of working.
Here are a few tips I’ll carry with me:
Plan, but stay adaptable to the serendipity of nature. Much like growing a business, it helps to know when wildlife tends to emerge, and where. Once you’re there, stay alert and look for the signs: a fresh pile of scat, an elk a bit on edge. But sometimes, it’s only when you pile back into the van that the cinnamon bear appears. That unpredictability of life (or business opportunities) makes the discovery even more exciting.
Practice patience. From a bald eagle sighting to Old Faithful’s fountain on display — good things come to those who wait. I’m not known as a patient person. The older I get, the more I recognize the virtue of good timing. Sometimes that means being patient with those around us as they stumble through their own learning journey. But often, the deepest patience we need is with ourselves.
Sometimes you have to burn it all down for new life to grow. In Yellowstone, fires are a necessary part of a healthy ecosystem. Clearing old trees, much like eliminated old habits, makes space for new undergrowth. That undergrowth contains the nutrients the wildlife depend on. Resisting destruction could be preventing necessary creation.
Don’t fear the weather. Neal told us that when we worried about a rainy forecast. True to his guidance, the drops were minimal and the clouds made for a breathtaking backdrop. Nature needs the rain. At work, there’s often a fear of confronting old patterns that don’t serve the team anymore out of concern for uncomfortable or rocky weather. Moving through that storm could be the best path forward. It clears the skies for sun.
Find gratitude in the little things. Many of my clients have been carrying a heaviness this year. Lingering uncertainty and change fatigue can be wearing. But as we venture into summer, I see a lightness emerging bolstered by thankfulness. The fog is lifting. Responsibilities shift from weights to buoys of opportunity.
And finally: your most creative projects this year will likely not emerge from behind your desk. They may reveal themselves on a mountain or a beach, walking the cobblestone streets of cities you’ve never seen, sitting in café conversations with people you’ve just met, and in adventures with loved ones you’ve known for a lifetime.
Stay open to it. Your wild mind and disciplined eye are calling you.
Howdy! Let’s Partner.
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An unexpectedly fragrant peony at a cafe in Jackson, WY. What a gift!