50 Reasons Not to Change_The Tribes We
Lead
Looking back on myself as
far back as I can remember, I have always had an aversion to change. I was a fan of the status quo, a creature of
habit, a digger of ruts. In many ways,
that has changed; in some ways it remains the same. Sometime in the early 1990s, I had to start
making changes in my life because someone, somewhere changed the phrase from ‘we
have always done it this way’ to ‘we don’t do it that way anymore’. Reluctantly, I began to comply. For that, I am grateful. The world I grew up in does not exist anymore. For that, I am sad.
I entered the Air Force
before the phrase changed. One morning I
overheard my shop chief talking about making changes to an area where we stored
and refilled large bottles with dielectric gas we used to service aircraft. Later, I questioned the logic of that change with
my supervisor. And, the job was mine. That only happened one more time and I learned
my lesson. The lesson I learned was that
keeping an Airman with an attitude busy is enough to justify making any change. The lesson I learned about change is that it
is a job that must be done whether I agree with it or not. When the job is done, feel pride, but miss
the old way. Before long, the reason for
making the change becomes clear. Soon
after that, the old way does not make sense anymore and you wonder why we ever
did it that way to begin with. Every
change that I have been involved in since has followed a similar pattern.
So, why is it that when I
am faced with change, I get that uncomfortable feeling inside that tells me to avoid
it at any cost? It still happens, but
today I can ignore the flight response. The
Air Force taught me through repetition that change is necessary, often
mandatory. Obsolescence is real. You either change or you find yourself not
knowing how to do something you were good at yesterday.
For that reason, when I
hear someone using one of the 50 reasons not to change, I try to be
understanding, I briefly explain why the change is necessary and the positive impact
it will have, then I end the debate.
They will eventually realize (like I had to) that most of the pain
associated with change is self-imposed and unnecessary. I sometimes struggle with my conscience when
I take this stance because I know I have used the same excuse myself. I have not used any of the 50 reasons in a
very long time. I learned my lesson.
There is a big difference
between the military and civilian organizations when it comes to change. I have experienced many significant changes
in the Air Force. I have never experienced
the resistance, anger, or opposition that Brown (2011) described. It simply does not occur, at least not that I
have witnessed. I have seen violent
displays outside of the military. It may
be that military members have been broken and accept that resistance is futile. However, I believe it is the environment and
culture. It is interesting to me
nonetheless.
For myself, I overcome
the thinking that creates the negative responses to change efforts by thinking
about my children and their generation.
For them change is the norm. They
count down the days until they are eligible to upgrade to the newest version of
technology. They are genuinely bored by
the status quo. It is fascinating to me
that two generations can be so opposite.
It reminds me that change is not necessarily bad and it can be embraced. Brown (2011) might advocate different “ways
to reduce this resistance, including good communication and participation in
the change process” (p. 159).
Seth Godin’s presentation
was thought provoking and true; people are waiting for a connection and they
want to be led (Godin, 2009). However, the
concept is not new. Many negative examples
of it exist today as well as in our history books.
For positive
applications, I not only agree with his concept but tribes can be incredibly
powerful. In an ethics class I took recently,
I wrote a paper on the morality of eating meat.
They call it eating animals. I
felt very strongly that it is ethical to eat animals and provided strong arguments
supporting my position. My point is I
never actually met anyone in the movement that opposed the practice; I only
read their arguments. I did not agree
with them and did not find them to be well supported. Yet, I found myself near anger defending what
I had for dinner the night before. The tribe
supporting that movement is extremely powerful.
The may not ever achieve their goal for change, but they will convince a
lot of people to join their effort along the way.
My takeaway from this
exercise is that change often makes room for progress. It is necessary and generally good. Many people are by nature averse to the idea
of change. I have and should use the tools
that can reduce the urge to resist change. I have a responsibility to understand the
details of change and a right to oppose change I disagree with.
~Pete
References
Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization
development (8th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Godin, S. (2009, February). The tribes we lead
[Video file]. TED2009. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead
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