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I was mid-text argument with my colleague John when I caught myself, again, hovering over the “send” button, rewriting the same defensive message for the third time. It was about politics. But frankly, the content didnt matter. What mattered was how my nervous system was lighting up like a pinball machine. I wasnt responding. I was reacting. So I stopped. I paused the conversation, switched from text to voice note, and eventually asked if we could meet in person so that I could show up in a way that honors him. That single decision, to press pause, completely changed the tone and outcome of the conversation. By meeting in person, John and I demonstrated that we both really cared about each other, and we ended up not only resolving the disagreement but also learning more about each others upbringings and communication styles. Research done on international conflict suggests that taking repeated breaks from conflict can improve the odds of reaching an agreement. I call this the “strategic pause.” A PAUSE IS NOT A SHUTDOWN During my disagreement with John, I realized that I was operating from Superior Self Justin. In other words, I was approaching the conversation by thinking that I was better than him and, as a result, my words and tone were dehumanizing. I teach leaders to recognize the three selves that show up during conflict: Superior Self: Im right and youre wrong. Inferior Self: Im wrong and I always mess this up. Equal Self: Were both humans here. Lets work this out together. Most shutdowns happen when were stuck in Superior or Inferior mode. We lash out or retreat. But a pause from Equal Self sounds like: “I noticed this conversation is starting to feel unproductive. Id like to take a break so I can come back with more clarity and respect.” This is different from disappearing. Its about signaling your intent to return (not escape) and taking responsibility for how you want to show up, even when you cant control how the other person will respond. THE 90-SECOND RULE The brain isnt wired to have a rational conversation in a heightened emotional state. When the amygdala, the brains fear center, is triggered, it hijacks your ability to think clearly. Thats where the 90-second rule comes in. Neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD, found it takes just 90 seconds for the initial surge of stress hormones to clear from the body (if you dont re-trigger them by rehashing the moment). But heres the caveat: 90 seconds might not be enough. Especially if the issue touches a core value or past trauma, or youre entering the conversation already emotionally depleted. Sometimes it can take 10 minutes. Sometimes its hours, days, or even weeks. APPLY THE STRATEGIC PAUSE IN REAL TIME I will be honest. When my amygdala hijacks my rational brain, I dont always catch myself in time to practice the strategic pause. The term “amygdala hijack,” introduced by psychologist Daniel Goleman, PhD, describes situations in which the amygdala overrides the rational prefrontal cortex, leading to impulsive reactions. Luckily, our brain’s neuroplasticity allows it to adapt and change in response to experiences and practices. Engaging in regular emotional regulation strategies, such as mindfulness and illeism, can strengthen the neural pathways associated with the prefrontal cortex, enhancing our capacity for self-control and emotional awareness. If you recognize that youre in a dysregulated state in time (its okay if you dont; were only human), the next step is asking for a break. To effectively communicate that you want a break, avoid accusatory statements such as: You are making me feel triggered and angry, so we need to take a break. Instead, use I statements. For example: Im feeling overwhelmed and want to pause so I can come back with more respect and intention. WHAT YOU DO DURING THE BREAK MATTERS THE MOST A strategic pause only works if you use it well. Ive seen people step away, then spend the entire time stewing in righteous anger, rehearsing comebacks, or screenshotting texts for third-party validation. Thats not a reset; its an escalation.During my disagreement with John, I asked myself: What would Equal Self Justin do? Equal Self Justin would want to know how the conversation could go better. He would listen more, and ask John about his story, upbringing, and value system. A powerful tool for regulating and accessing our Equal Self is illeism. This is the practice of talking to yourself in the third person. For instance: Why is Justin so upset? instead of Why am I upset? This creates just enough cognitive distance to reengage the rational brain. Strategic pauses arent a cure-all. You may still get stonewalled, the other person may escalate, or they might refuse to reengage. Unfortunately, you cannot control the outcome. But when you return as your Equal Selfwho is clear, respectful, and regulatedyou give the conversation its best chance to move forward constructively.
Category:
E-Commerce
This past weekend, there were more disruptions at Newark Liberty International Airport due to Federal Aviation Administration equipment outages. It has added to the air travel chaos at Newark over the past month, which has included air traffic controllers losing communication with planes for up to 90 seconds, and led to the delay and cancellation of hundreds of flights. On Monday morning, there were at least 59 flight delays and more than 80 cancellations at Newark, according to FlightAware data. Air traffic controllers and the 79,000-member Air Line Pilots Association, are calling on the FAA to update its aging infrastructure to ensure the system is as safe and efficient as possible. At least five Newark air traffic controllers have taken 45 days of trauma leave after the radar and radio communication loss during the busy afternoon of April 28. Caught in the middle of the issues at Newark is United Airlines, which is the most active airline at the New Jersey airport. While the problems lie with the FAA system, the airline is where people often aim their frustrations over cancellations and delays. This presents United with a unique brand challenge. The brand must find solutions and communicate clearly with its customers about a problem that it’s ultimately not responsible for, or in control of. United was forced to cancel at least 35 flights per day last week (as of Friday). Josh Earnest, United’s executive vice president of communications and advertising, says that while people understand that United Airlines is not responsible for running the air traffic control tower, the brand still has to act. People know it’s not our equipment or employees managing the airspace, but our brand is so big, and our presence at Newark in particular is so large, that they expect us to do something about it, Earnest says. [Photo: Bing Guan/Bloomberg/Getty Images] Transparency is key For Earnest, the key to navigating a situation like this is for the brand to be as transparent and clear as it possibly can. United has a responsibility to ensure and assure its customers that not only are its flights safe, but that the cancellations are directly related to that safety. We don’t usually aggressively promote the fact that we had to cancel a bunch of fights, Earnest says. But in this case, we did because people expect us to do something about the problem. And by taking 35 fights out of the schedule [each day], that makes it much more likely that the other 293 fights, or whatever it is, will operate on time. The airports less crowded, there’s less congestion. That’s us taking proactive steps to try to solve that problem. The next step is communicating this to customers. So far, United has been utilizing social media and earned media to do that. The Newark outage story has been getting such a bright media spotlight that the brand has used it to get its own message out. United CEO Scott Kirby appeared on CBSs Face The Nation this past weekend to talk about the issues. And Kirbys original May 2 memo about Newark flight cancellations appeared in The Wall Street Journal just an hour after it was sent. Safety first Canceling flights would initially qualify as kryptonite to any airline brand. But Earnest says that while it may cause some short-term pain, it’s an investment in the brand’s long-term health. The most important issue that people should associate with our brand is safety. The operational environment is messy, but the reason that it’s messy is that we’re keeping it safe, he adds. So when there’s a lack of staffing in the control tower or some other issue, the right thing to do is to slow down the operation at the airport, with more separation between the planes. That’s something that we’re going to need to continue to reinforce, and we’re going to spend our credibility to do it. The good news is that’s not a tough decision to make because its actually our first and highest priority. The situation in Newark hasnt slowed down Uniteds marketing operation. This week, the airline unveiled and prompted its first flights featuring Starlink Wi-Fi. Earnest says that in times like this, the brand is provided an opportunity to really shine. If we handle it well, we will earn credibility with our customers in those moments, he says. As challenging as this is, it is an opportunity for us to actually earn even more of our customers confidence.
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E-Commerce
If you saw a group of millennials out on a Saturday in the mid-2010s, they were most likely wearing leggingsthe uniform of that era. And there’s a good chance they were Lululemon’s Align leggings. Ten years ago today, Lululemon’s designers developed a new material called Nulu that was buttery soft, thin, and stretchy. It put them into a $98 pair of leggings called Align. The fabric proved so irresistible that women started wearing the pants right out of the yoga studio and into the rest of their lives. On the newly launched Instagram app, you would see twenty- and thirtysomethings wearing the pricey leggings out to brunch, or for school pickups, or on long flights. Some women even wore them to the office with a crisp button-down oxford shirt. If the Align legging didn’t kick-start athleisureblending activewear with everyday outfitsthen it certainly accelerated the trend. And it helped propel Lululemon from a scrappy yoga startup into a global activewear giant. Over the past decade, Lululemon has generated more than $1 billion on its Align franchise. And it has spawned so many copycats from other brands that two years ago it launched an entire “dupe swap” marketing campaign, where it invited people to trade in their dupes to get the real thing. [Photo: Lululemon] Chip Wilson, a yoga obsessive, launched Lululemon in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1998. For its first decade in business, the company remained small and focused on designing high-quality clothing that was perfect for yoga, which was taking off throughout North America. But by 2010, the companys growth accelerated as it went public and began expanding its network of stores. In 2012, Lululemon hit $1 billion in annual revenue. After the Align leggings launched, the company scaled quickly, growing from $1.8 billion to $10.8 billion over the past decade. Today, Lululemon is celebrating the anniversary of the Align pants by launching a range of new products, including a dress and a new version of the pants that offer a seamless construction in the front, developed with customer feedback. But the company is also thinking ahead about how it must evolve beyond this comfortable legging into entirely new categories of clothing. I sat down with Antonia Iamartino, senior director of franchise innovations, research, and product innovation, to hear about how she created the Align pant and how she’s thinking ahead about how to spin out the next billion-dollar franchises for Lululemon. Antonia Iamartino [Photo: Lululemon] Designing a Billion-Dollar Pant Back in 2015, most people went into the yoga studio wearing sweatpants or compression leggings designed for running. Iamartino joined Lululemon in 2005, shortly after she trained as a fashion designer in Vancouver. A decade ago, she was promoted to oversee the yoga category. In this new role, she wanted to design a pair of pants that were ideal for the practice, which involves a variety of physical postures and movements. [Photo: Lululemon] At the time, Lululemon had developed a very specific design philosophy called the “science of feel, which was about creating garments that responded to the way people wanted to feel in a particular moment, rather than the purely technical features of a garment. In focus groups, Iamartino began to get a sense of how yogis wanted to feel throughout their yoga practice. “They talked about wanting softness and warmth,” she recalls. “They wanted pieces that felt cozy and inviting.” [Photo: Lululemon] Iamartino set out to find a material that would meet these specifications. This was a challenge, because many of the fabric mills that Lululemon worked with were used to creating athletic apparel. “Our inspiration was the texture of a rose petal; something that felt soft and textured,” she says. “But it was hard to find this among the nylon fabrics on the market.” [Photo: Lululemon] Over the course of 18 months, she worked with various mills, providing details about what she was looking for. After co-creating 10 different iterations of the material with the mills, she landed on the fabric that would become Nulu. The material had a very soft texture thanks to a process called napping that creates a fuzzy, velvet-like feel on the surface. The matte texture of Lululemons leggings made them different from much of the slick, shiny sports apparel that was popular at the time. The material was also very lightweight and had just enough compression to make the wearer feel gently hugged but not tightly restricted. “When we landed on this material, the feedback was unanimous and quick,” Iamartino remembers. “It was clear we had found something that was very appealing to yogis.” [Photo: Lululemon] Beyond the Yoga Studio When the Align leggings launched, they were an immediate hit. On social media, women raved about how comfortable they were for yoga. But over time, as word about them spread, customers realized they wanted to wear the pants all the time. Iamartino says that Lululemon happened to catch some important fashion trends along the way. For one thing, skinny jeans were in style back then. Black leggings were aesthetically similar, and could be paired with the same tops you might wear with denim. Fashion was also becoming more casual, so some people felt comfortable wearing leggings to college classes or even to some workplaces. Finally, fitness and wellness were taking off, as people invested in their health by working out and doing yoga, creating a $100 billion global industry. But mostly, Iamartino believes Align was successful because of how it made the wearer feel. Store managers began to report about how customers would come out of the changing room and do a little dance in their Align pants, feeling the leggings with their hand and bouncing around. Ultimately, Iamartino believes that staying laser-focused on the goal of creating comfort helped Lululemon achieve a pair of leggings that transcended the practice of yoga. “We likely wouldn’t have gotten the same result if we had set out to design the best casual pant,” she says. “It was really the purity of our intention that helped us achieve this fabric, which had this universal appeal. All the tenets that we designed againstthe quality, the stitching, the texturereally transcended the experience of yoga in the end.” [Photo: Lululemon] But What Comes Next? Over the past 10 years, as the Align pant exploded in popularity, Iamartino helped transform the garment from a single product into a franchise. She worked with her team of designers to develop new products, like shorts and wide-leg pants. Now there’s even an Align dress. The next step is helping Lululemon think about how it can create the next big franchises. In many ways, the COVID-19 lockdowns took clothing to its casual extreme, with people wearing sweatpants for months on end. But in the post-pandemic world, Iamartino believes people are moving in the other direction and opting for clothing that is dressier. In conversations with customers, Lululemon staffers found that fewer people are wearing leggings and joggers to work; they’re looking for pieces that are drawn from a more formal wardrobe, like trousers and blazers. “But what’s different, this time around, is that they are unwilling to compromise on comfort,” Iamatino says. “So pieces need to look more formal on the exterior but feel much more comfortable.” [Photo: Lululemon] Lululemon’s designers are now focused on creating pieces that do just this. The company made its first foray into clothing that could be worn to the office in the mid-2010s, as it launched trousers for both men and women that looked a lot like khakis but were made from technical fabrics. Over the years, as customers began to see Lululemon as a brand that could outfit them for work, the brand has expanded its range of professional garments. This year, one of its bestsellers is its women’s Daydrift trousers, which have the silhouette of old-school mens trousers, with pleats and a waistband. But they’re actually pull-up pants made from a stretchy fabric that’s infused with Lycra. They fel extremely soft to the touch. The trousers have been very popular among working professionals, and Lululemon has been struggling to keep them in stock. Iamartino is now thinking about how Daydrift could also become a franchise. The brand is launching Daydrift shorts for the summer, with more possible products in the pipeline. Lululemon is launching other garments that are designed for the office, and much like with Align, the company spends a lot of time developing the right fabric for these pieces. For its blazer, for instance, Lululemon has created a till fabric with a textured feel akin to cotton or wool that is made from a wrinkle-free synthetic material. Lululemon’s success over the course of its history has come down to innovation. It began as a yoga brand, but over the years it has created garments for a wide range of activities. Now it’s next evolution is to create clothes that allow you to move comfortably through the rest of your life. And the lesson that Iamartino takes from designing the Align pants is that the way to succeed is to thoughtfully design products that make people feel good no matter what they’re doing. “We know people today want to feel polished but also comfortable as they’re moving throughout their life,” she says. “We can design around that.”
Category:
E-Commerce
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