Every organization has an orientation. This is the program for what comes next.
Disorientation arrives somewhere in the middle—too far from the beginning to feel hopeful, not close enough to the end to feel relief. Everything feels like too much. And most institutions respond by trying to fix it as quickly as possible.
In this talk, Lea Appleton, a former dean of students who created and led a mid-term event called Disorientation, makes the case that the middle is not a problem to be solved. It is where formation actually happens. The question is not how to return to orientation. It is how to wayfind through the middle—reading the signs available right now, without waiting for the discomfort to resolve first.
Students leave with permission to be exactly where they are. Faculty and staff leave with a new way of supporting them that doesn't require fixing what isn't broken.
Best for: Higher education: students, faculty, staff, and student affairs professionals. Also powerful for organizations navigating change. Available in 30, 45, and 60-minute formats.
