One of the key’s to success in the 21ste century is the ability to handle change. Not just to survive it, but also to thrive on it. This often means creating change before change creates a different you. It also means managing a system (business, family, individual, etc) in such a way that change is the norm, and when change happens it does not produce discontent or anxiety. This is easy to say, but how do you actually do it when there are people involved, with expectations and different levels of personal acceptance of change?
This is a question I’ll be coming back to you over the next few weeks, and would be interested in what others have to say practically.
Our goal: to build change into the DNA of the individuals and organisations we work with.
For now, though, I’ve been trying to think of examples of where the lack of built-in change has caused major hassles, and produced unhealthy/counter-productive behaviours . Here are some of the ones I can think of. Can you think of more?
Mobile phone Car kits – what’s the point of putting a mobile phone kit in your car? Every time you change your cell phone you have to change the kit, because even cell phones from the same company have different fittings and standards. So, if you put a kit in, you restrict your future choice of phones. You end up choosing a phone based on an old car kit, rather than the correct phone for your current needs.
Liverpool UEFA – Keith blogged about Liverpool, UEFA and rules being broken – read it here. Even though we’re giving him a hard time, this is certainly a case of not foreseeing something, and now being stuck. But that’s the point – we can;t foresee everything, and must build flexibility into our systems. In this case, there should have been a wild card system right from the start, and that could now be applied to Liverpool with no changes in rules needed.
Country Constitution & Courts – in fact, this is a good example when change is brought into a system by application of the law. Anytime somebody wants to do something they’re legally not allowed to do, they have to create new “case law” that updates older laws and makes new precedent. OK, so its too long and costly for normal every-day use, but the concept of “case law” might be helpful in our quest to build change into our DNA.
This is one of the reasons that websites are becoming more popular than books – you can update them quickly and easily, and keep them up to date.
Any more examples?
Perhaps, too obvious, but the fact that our bodies change continuously! Since my waist size has been expanding, the need to accept change in the way I shop for clothes has made a case for constant change.
I think boarding schools and Dr Spock have a lot to account for. I spent 18 years rebelling against an enforced routine that meant I had to do things in a certain way and at a certain time. Woe betide the friends that arrive before your rest time was over, or knock on your door unexpectedly. Or the new secretary that brings tea half an hour before you “should� have it. Do we really need routine? It gives us security, a sense of certainty, but we all know that nothing is certain, and yet we still cling to it, we plan projects and business decisions around it.
That is not to say we don’t need discipline, but routine and discipline are not the same. A routine can give you discipline, but discipline does not need a routine.
How much more could be achieved if we changed our routine to fit in with our environment, rather than our own needs, and how much more secure we would feel if we knew that we were adaptable enough to cope with whatever came our way, especially if it is unexpected.
Maidenmole makes a good point. The only way you know you’re alive is that you’re changing. In nature, a good enough definition of being dead is “not changing”.
I’m never sure if I like Microsoft or not. But their latest ad campaign is interesting. Splashed all over the billboards are pictures people with dinosaur masks, caption reading “Microsoft has evolved. Have you?”. “Software Development” is a verb in the present future tense, present continuous, etc, etc which we need to continuously keep abreast of.