We made it ! We survived the Summer Holidays: Human Behaviour in the Wild

Remember the beginning of the summer holidays, some six weeks ago? When we had six glorious weeks stretching ahead. The sun might shine (blimey it did here A LOT in the UK). The thought that families would spend quality time together. Everyone seemed slightly more relaxed and somewhere, an optimistic parent thought:

“It’ll be lovely having the children home.”

Fast-forward six weeks.

Those same parents are standing amongst abandoned glasses, food wrappers and piles of washing thinking:

“When do they go back?”

Meanwhile, those of us (like me) without school-age children have developed our own end-of-August mantra:

“WHEN IS EVERYONE COMING BACK TO WORK?”

Because apparently the entire business world has been operating under one enormous Out of Office:

“Thanks for your email.

I’m currently away enjoying some much-needed family time with limited access to emails.

By “limited”, I mean I saw your email arrive while sitting beside a swimming pool and decided September Me can deal with it. If it’s urgent, please contact a colleague on alsooutofoffice@thecompany.holiday, Good luck.”

Six weeks of human behaviour

The summer holidays are basically a live behavioural experiment nobody consented to but I LOVE to people watch.

At the beginning, we’re optimistic.

Let’s make memories!

The spontaneous personalities want adventures. The planners have already created the summer spreadsheet. The quieter personalities are wondering when everyone will leave the house again. The task-focused personalities are calculating what six weeks of activities are going to cost.

But eventually, even the most enthusiastic amongst us starts to fray around the edges. Because novelty is exciting.

Constant novelty, however, is exhausting.

It’s remarkably similar to going on holiday. Think about the emotional journey. First comes the excitement of booking it.

Then the packing…   Where’s the passport? Have we got enough pants? Who has the chargers? Why does one human need seven pairs of shoes?

Then the airport.

Queues. Security. Hungry children. Expensive coffee. Someone is already irritated and we haven’t even left the country.

And then…

We arrive.

Sunshine. Swimming pool. All-you-can-eat buffet. Activities. Hotel entertainment. Perhaps a moonlight walk where you suddenly feel a million miles away from normal life.

Your shoulders drop. Your brain quietens. You exhale…….aaaaaahhhhhhhhh

Humans need those moments.

We need changes of pace, periods where our responsibilities reduce and opportunities to reset.

But different personalities need different versions of it.

For one person, relaxation is lying beside a pool doing absolutely nothing.

For another, that’s their idea of hell and they’ve booked paddle boarding, sightseeing and a cycling tour before breakfast.

Neither is wrong.

They’re simply different humans.

Then something changes

Eventually, the novelty wears off, you’ve eaten everything on the buffet 9they do get repetitive don’t they – I’m sure last nights dinner has been reinvented to todays lunch! The children are arguing. Someone has sunburn and then it happens, quietly you start thinking:

“It’ll actually be quite nice to get home.

Your own bed (big one for me, I do love my own bed, your own bathroom and a proper cup of tea (it’s not so much the tea more the milk)

What it is it routine, like it or not, we all need some kind of routine in our life.

And that’s exactly what happens during the six-week summer holidays.

We crave a break from routine, then eventually start craving the routine we wanted a break from.

And that’s where businesses should pay attention

September arrives and we expect everyone to simply switch back on.

But your people aren’t all returning from the same summer.

One parent may be exhausted after six weeks of childcare logistics.

A colleague without children may be frustrated because projects stalled while half the business disappeared.

Someone may have spent the summer caring for family.

Someone else may have had the best six weeks of their year.

Same workplace. Completely different human experiences.

Personality matters, values matter, culture matters, responsibilities matter, lived experience matters.

And when our environment changes, our behaviour changes with it.

So perhaps before charging into Q4 targets, budgets and the inevitable “Can you believe it’s nearly Christmas?”, September needs a PAUSE.

Managers, ask your teams:

What do you need to get back into your rhythm?

And individually, notice what’s happening to your own behaviour.

Are you energised? Frazzled? Relieved? Overwhelmed? Desperate for structure? Still mentally beside the swimming pool?

There isn’t one correct response.

Because understanding behaviour isn’t about putting people into boxes.

It’s about understanding what brings different behaviours out of them.

So welcome back.

Children, back to school.

Frazzled parents, enjoy drinking a coffee without somebody asking for a snack.

The rest of us can finally get a response to the email we sent three weeks ago.

Put the Out of Office away, open the inbox, make the tea (or coffee but I don’t drink that).

And before you REACT to the 437 emails waiting for you…

PAUSE.

Then let’s get back to business.