“Change, when it comes, cracks everything open.”

Anonymous

Change is inevitable. And as the quote suggests it has a habit of cracking open the ‘what is’ offers up a beginning of ‘what will be’ (or … ‘what could be’).

Frankly, leaving ‘what is’ (which is often comfortable) behind is, well, uncomfortable. Even more uncomfortable is ‘what could be’ contains the word could.

embrace-change1Could means uncertainty. Could doesn’t insure anything. Could is just a possibility.

But. We should embrace change. Consider it like opening a new gift, or cracking open a fresh beer, if that is what floats your boat. Change is only scary if you don’t understand it is inevitable and, oh by the way, typically a precursor to improvement and betterment. I saw the president of a large company stand up in front of his global corporation and address a companywide reorganization and direction shift by opening with “change is our constant companion and friend.”

That moment was awesome (it did freak some people out).

Change is one of the most painful joys in the world. It does crack things open. Some seek to put it back together again. Try and superglue what has cracked open and put it back together again the way it was. And others leave the pieces as they are and remember it fondly as a whole. Maybe pocket one or two of the pieces as they move along.

Regardless. We spend a lot of time talking about how change is good. Or how great things come from change. And they are all true. But it would be darn silly of us to diminish the fact that change comes with pain. Sometimes just a little. And sometimes a helluva lot. But pain regardless.

Why do I say this as a reminder?  Couple of reasons.

  1. We remember tears of sadness more easily than we do tears of joy. It is human nature.
  1. If change over time becomes associated with pain you can bet that a boatload of people will think first about how to avoid pain rather than the benefits of change.

I am a change guy myself. I get nervous if things stay to “status quo” for too long. Even if things are going really well.

Personally it makes my life a little more interesting because I am always moving and doing and I don’t really run the risk of having a stagnant life.

Professionally that attitude can scare people.

It took me awhile as a manager to truly recognize (and acknowledge and understand) those 2 reasons above. Maybe its sounds silly or obvious to anyone reading this but recognizing these reasons changed the way I managed people. And it is something for manager to consider. It’s not about throwing parties to celebrate change and rewarding successful behavior changes. Those things simply mask pain. I am not here to offer solutions (although I can do a post on that) this post is using a great quote and discussing how I love and view change.

Of course. I reserve the right to change my opinion later.

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Written by Bruce