The title is a great quote from a Canadian company that I worked with in the early 2000s and I’ve used it frequently ever since.  There are so many different approaches to change and I watched so many of them unfold in various interactions this past week.

I’ll list a few of the change approaches I’ve seen this week:

• Everything new is better than anything old.  Great enthusiasm about change, but sometimes has difficulty committing to a new process or technology long enough to get buy-in from folks less enthusiastic about change and gain the most effectiveness from the new system.
• Everything old is good, anything new is bad.  If change is bad, it makes sense to delay the change for as long as possible and resist change for long enough that either the change doesn’t happen or at least it is far into the future.

– OR –

• Change is difficult and scary, so we must create massive, incredibly thorough plans that will allow us to implement change with no risk.  This results in the pace of change slowing to a crawl and so much time, effort, and energy being expended on planning for change that change is naturally avoided.
• Change is difficult and scary, so we ignore it until the last possible minute and then the panic of an imminent change propels us.  This results in change that is chaotic and unplanned and leaves such a bitter memory that change is naturally avoided.

My current favorite book on change is by Chip and Dan Heath and entitled Switch.  The basic premise is that change is hard not because we don’t know what to do, but that we have difficulty with the motivational and emotional aspects of change.  Emotions are powerful and can drive change or resist change.  If you can get emotions on the side of the change and make it easier to change than stay the same, you can increase your odds for successful change.  I highly recommend the book and if you want a preview, they have free resources on their website.

Have an upcoming change and want some help?  Contact us.