When the winds of change blow – set sail
When turbulent winds of change blow, don’t fight it because your present situation seems safe – set sail. The winds I refer to are those indicators which suggest it’s time to do something different. Winston Churchill once said, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” Are you changing or are you playing it safe by staying in your present situation?
"A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for.”
John A. Shedd, Salt from My Attic, 1928
Who said, change is easy? It isn’t. It’s often uncomfortable and rarely welcomed with open arms. People become so entrenched in the way they do things; they resist change because it’s often disruptive and stressful.
In business we often face and adopt innovative ways of doing things better. This is change. There have been some major changes over the years which I admittedly met with resistance. Incredible changes, like: the introduction of computers, cell phones, the Internet, email, and many software packages. While not all changes I adopted have worked for me, like Windows Vista, today, I struggle to remember what business was like before many of these advances.
So I asked myself, why do we meet change with resistance? Here are a few reasons I thought of:
- The risk of pursuing change outweighs the attraction of remaining with the status quo
- Our peers identify with the status quo rather than change
- There are no successful models to follow
- People are skeptic and will only proceed with “I”s dotted and “T”s crossed
- The fear of losing professional status or risking the quality of life
I’ve often noticed something interesting when I’ve dragged my feet and resisted from pursuing a change I had been contemplating. As if my thoughts had seeded some universal garden, I often see another person or company beat me to the draw. To appease my disappointment from losing an opportunity, at the time I think, ‘Great minds think alike.’
To remain competitive in business, we’re forced to forge ahead or we’ll get left behind. How often though have you made a change, become efficient and proficient at it only to be introduced to another product or service which claims to do things even better? What do we do in that case? We resist, again. There is a cycle here.
In these interesting economic times, the winds of change seem to gust and shift influencing the direction of people, businesses and even the energy industry.
Now having more than 20 years as a gas equipment distributor, I realize there are two types of change: reactive and proactive.
Reactive Change
When I am changing to respond to a situation, whether it is to avoid an imminent threat or capitalize on a missed opportunity, we function in a reactive mode. Change is good, though this type of change can be more about damage control and trying to “get in” on an existing opportunity. Most times reactive change is more about responding to a competitive situation and the rewards are not as favorable as a proactive change.
Proactive Change
When changes are actively pursued to capitalize on a potential opportunity or are precautionary against a future threat, they are proactive and generally offer more lucrative returns if the change is successful.
It wasn’t too long ago I had been resisting a change. I figured staying at status quo was safer, not thinking that I could be missing an opportunity. Then when I saw a competitor take advantage of the opportunity and I went into a reactive mode and worked to catch up so I could capitalize on a missed opportunity.
I could have responded proactively all along. I could have moved forward rather than drag my feet while a prime opportunity existed, but I didn’t. Instead I watched someone else seize the opportunity while I played catch up.
When winds of change surface in life we can respond proactively, reactively or ignore it completely. My lesson has been to heed the words of John A. Shedd, “A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for.” If we never set sail we’ll never have a chance to reach our desired destination. True, I may never reach my ultimate objective, but at least I will try and I’ll never settle for status quo – will you?
Image: Filomena Scalise / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Tags: transformation, change, proactive change, reactive change
