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Interesting how people speak about change as if they had an alternative to accepting its relentless progression! We are born and we move inevitably towards death. Here’s some quotes that will put a variety of lights on the reality of change.

‘Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away to the next room. Henry Scott Holland (1918)

‘Life is either a daring adventure or nothing’. Helen Keller (1968)

‘Live every day as if it’s your last. One day you’ll get it right. Zig Ziglar (Still alive!)

My feeling is that if we can accept change in our own lives, we are better able to accept it at work. Organisations need to change to keep pace with the clients’s needs. Jack Welch of GE said that if internal change is slower than external change...the end is near!

As potential change agents in our organizations, we can help the process of improvement or resist and be dragged kicking into the future. Many people see change as an attack on their comfortable picture of the world. They look back to normal and back gets better. ‘The older you are, the better it was’. If people see change as an attack, they will obviously defend themselves and their outdated skills. People who have put up a wall are hard to move. On the other hand, if people see change as an opportunity or an adventure, they are likely to have more energy to adjust and learn new skills. If they are inspired, they will have abundant energy. Since change is inevitable, we have the choice of embracing it and acting early or resisting and acting late. Make yourself a change agent. Persuade and inspire people to be open to new ways. Here are some ideas for improving your change agent attitude and skills.

• Be optimistic in your language and behaviour.

Leave the cynics to themselves. Speak positively about the consequences of changes within your organization. Assume successful outcomes from changes made in your organization. There is often some hard work to be done in the early phases and most people find it hard to adjust. Better to embrace the task and move quickly to the benefits that inevitably come.

• Support and encourage people who are doing it tough.

Some people have built up a vast library of knowledge in their heads. A simple change can make this information obsolete. Doesn’t seem fair. Imagine the artisans whose skills become redundant in a moment. They needed to learn new skills or become people who spoke about the ‘good old days’.

• Embrace change in your personal life.

Buy new clothes. Try new activities. Toss the dice sometimes to make a decision. Six movies – toss the dice. You’ll adjust and maybe see a movie you would never have chosen. Make new friends. Dancing classes. Holiday somewhere unusual. Just drive and see where you end up.

“Determination, patience and courage are the only things needed to change a situation. If you want a situation changed badly enough, you will find all three” Anon.

Paddy Spruce speaks about Successful Change and helps organizations develop the people skills necessary to assist people to adjust and assist others to adjust. If you are looking for an entertaining speaker who will shift people’s thinking towards embracing change...look no further.

Paddy Spruce CSP
Phone: 03 9808 8990
Email: paddy@paddyspruce.com.au
www.paddyspruce.com