Eurostar & The Hope Extinguisher !
22 July 2026A few weeks ago, my kids & I enjoyed a wonderful few days together in Amsterdam. Then came the journey home.
A major power failure meant our Eurostar train was cancelled. Like hundreds of others, we suddenly found ourselves facing uncertainty with very little information. Plans changed, meetings had to be rearranged, an extra night away from home became unavoidable and, at times, the communication left many of us feeling more uncertain than reassured.
What concerned me most was being told the disruption could last for an unspecified number of days, with little guidance beyond effectively saying, “Find your own way home.”
Looking back, I realised what I experienced wasn’t simply disruption.
It was Change Uncertainty.
When we don’t know what’s happening, our minds try to fill the gaps.
We may speculate, imagine worst-case scenarios, become frustrated, lose confidence or search for certainty where there isn’t any.
These are natural human reactions.
As I booked the holiday myself my first instinct was to solve the problem. I searched ferries, flights and every alternative I could think of, but without success.
Then I remembered Marco Williams from Travel Counsellors, who supports our business travel, and I decided to listen to my own counsel, let go of my own stubbornness & ask him for help.
Whilst we were trying to understand what was happening, Marco was already exploring options, finding solutions and keeping us updated. He couldn’t restore the power, restart the trains or remove the uncertainty.
But he did something just as important, he gave us hope.
Not through false reassurance or empty promises, but through honest communication, practical support and the confidence that someone was working alongside us to find a way forward.
It was another reminder that hope isn’t the absence of uncertainty. Hope is what enables us to move through it.
It’s also why, at Resourceful People Group Ltd, we describe our purpose as People First. Change Ready.
Organisations often invest heavily in managing projects and processes, yet it’s easy to overlook how people naturally respond when certainty disappears.
Building adaptable organisations isn’t simply about delivering change. It’s about helping people understand their reactions, build confidence, develop adaptability and maintain hope when the path ahead isn’t yet clear.
The irony isn’t lost on me that being stranded in Amsterdam reinforced many of the ideas I wrote about in The Architecture of Hope. Sometimes our greatest lessons don’t arrive when everything goes to plan. They arrive when it doesn’t.
Thank you, Marco, for demonstrating that great service isn’t always about having all the answers. Sometimes it’s simply about helping people believe that a way forward still exists.
