HOWE Q. WALLACE BLOG

Embrace Change

How many of you subscribe to the idea “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”?

If we are candid, most of us subscribe to the notion. Our brains encourage us to develop habits and patterns. We resist the idea of giving up good habits or good patterns. We don’t readily take up the idea of creating new ways to do things because it is difficult to form a new habit.

So, we cling to what we are doing now.

That would be fine if things didn’t change around us. Our world is in constant flux. In our business, things change constantly. Think about customers:

Some grow. Some get smaller.

Some change owners or merge with others.

The people we interact with regularly change. They get promoted or change jobs. Sometimes the replacement is better, sometimes worse.

The economy changes. The scope and mix of our raw material shifts. There are wars and rumors of war.

We age. We gain weight. We lose weight. We have health issues develop. Kids get born and then they grow up. They get married. They move back or they come home.

Add to that technology. Better and more mobile devices with greater power and reach. More stations to watch.

It just keeps coming.

So, the tension we manage is the desire to have things stay the same while the world is bursting with change.

We don’t need to break things that work. Because, if we stand by long enough, things will break on their own accord due to matters beyond our control. And we will have to change to move ahead well.

So, doesn’t it make sense to embrace “change” as compared to resent it?

Doesn’t it make sense to be alert to the circumstances that are developing and make plans to adjust?

Doesn’t it make sense to have a bias toward considering and trying out new alternatives so that we can move with great agility to meet the changing environment?

There are constant waves of change headed our way. Don’t resist the breakers of change. Get on the board and ride them.