It’s Never Really Much Fun

When things are new and developing before our eyes, things move quickly. One thing leads to another and another and eventually everything you see needs to change in order to reach the goal. That is when things are new, exciting, challenging, and unknown frontiers force us to invent along the way. Eventually what was once new becomes the standard, the steady state when people can settle in and breathe. Things works well, for a while.

Then there is always that person who wants to change things to make them better. Not always to improve things, sometimes things get changed in order for someone to leave their mark, take the lead, or just be in charge. If you have ever been involved with a group or organization that acquires a new leader, you can bet that change is not far behind. Something happens when fresh eyes are brought into the team, they see things from a different perspective which means in their eyes altering the status quo must occur.

I worked for a company where a new leader came in about every eighteen months, just about the time we were finished implementing the last person’s “vision” for the future. After the third leadership change everyone was totally over it. No matter the pep talk or enthusiasm the leader tried to infuse into the group, they weren’t having it. Eyes glazed over, morale was weak, people were just tried of all the change and no steady state. They had had enough of changing for change’s sake instead of making any headway or making things better. One smart leader who joined the team told us they would not change anything for one year. They wanted to know what was working and wasn’t before they moved forward.

People breathed a sigh of relief, and once changes were announced they felt more a part of the change and had the energy to participate. Sometimes the best plan is not to change. Sometimes we need to understand the steady state in order to use people’s energy and enthusiasm more effectively. Living through all that made we wiser when it came to implementing change – at home and at work. Change is fantastic when it is necessary, changing for the fun of it is never really much fun.