I used to not like change. But then a new boss came to town and shared his philosophy: “If you aren’t changing, you’re standing still.”
The philosophy was not unique to him, but when he said it, it finally resonated with me and now I fully embrace change.
The problem with change, isn’t the change. It’s making sure that it can happen, and in a way that is beneficial. My company has undergone significant change in the short time I’ve been with it – from a name change to a new website to a new brand. As president of the National Federation of Press Women, I’ve seen change. In fact, my presidency was a change – I didn’t go through the ranks to become president. I ran on a platform of change.
If you aren’t comfortable with change, what do you do?
I’m the type that has to read a book. I just finished Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. In the book, they share how our minds are ruled by two different systems – the rational mind and the emotional mind – that compete for control.
The book works on many levels. I found insights to help me professionally but while reading it I also set behavioral goals to help me with my fitness efforts. As the authors noted, “If you are leading a change effort, you need to remove the ambiguity from your vision of change.”
In the end, change works when people have clear direction, ample motivation and a supportive environment.
Are you ready to make a change?
Cynthia's Communique 
Great blog. I always balk when I have to change a process at work. But in the end the change is always for the better.
I couldn’t agree more, Cynthia. I’m reading Seth Godin’s Linchpin which is about changing yourself and coping with change when your job/career is changing. I highly recommend Linchpin, too.
Ah, change–the nemisis of so many people here in Bethlehem, PA. We’ve gone from a Steel town to an Industrial Park town with a huge Arts, Historic, and Entertainment complexes in the middle of it all. We have what was once a stodgy university on the mountain become a more active partner with us in trying to CHANGE the fact that our brightest and best are leaving upon receiving their education. Without the sheer will to change, we’d be another old industrial town rusting in peace into history. It was hard to do. Damn hard at times. But as an old friend of mine once said “nothing changes if nothing changes!”
My passion has been to embrace the change and take full advantage of all that it offers. Great partners in business, the arts, and education have facilitated the change with coalitions of potential for the good of all. Individually, we are not at all accepting of change. It necessitates goal setting with modificaions and changes of rules while the game is being played. Somedays, it’s like herding cats…but the end goal must always be in sight. Status quo will not cut it anymore in this globally focused world. We gotta change or we will be left behind. I the immortal words of Jimmy Buffet “Changes in attitude, changes in latitude, nothing remains quite the same…”
I’m looking forward to seeing these changes next week. I’m speaking to the Pennsylvania Press Club (the meeting is in Myerstown on Saturday). I’m much more open to change now than when I first out of college. Ironic, isn’t it?