Foundations of Change

Doctors study medicine, attorneys study the law, and accountants study the tax code. To gain a better understanding of chemistry, economics, or linguistics, students learn the philosophies and theories that serve as the foundation of that discipline. Education forms the basis for effective decision making, and those who are destined to change the world or change an organization must diligently study the foundations associated with change.

There are several philosophies and concepts that form the foundation of change. A greater and broader understanding of these concepts allows one to better prepare for; learn about; and master how to change, when to change, what to change, and why to change. These concepts are:

• Change is remarkable yet destabilizing. Whether curing polio or establishing the Internet, change effects society.

• Change must be viewed as advantageous and to be welcomed. Change viewed as such will almost always be enthusiastically sought and promoted.

• Change favors those in control of their future. Those in control of their destiny are more likely to be the victors, not the victims, of change.

• Change favors those who can adapt to a different future. Those who can adapt to change are more likely to profit and overcome from its ramifications.

• In nearly every instance, change offers the chance for a better life. Fewer circumstances hold the promise of a better life than the ability to change the present.

Change is remarkable yet destabilizing

For all the great that has come from change, it is surprising—even astounding—that change is nearly universally rebutted, refuted, and resisted. Hundreds of millions were freed from the shackles of communism, tens of millions were freed from the oppressive regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, and millions were freed from the totalitarian regimes in Libya and Tunisia. Generations were saved by the discoveries of penicillin and the polio vaccine, and the elderly live far healthier and more productive lives because of the advances in medicine and medical technology. Advances in technology have created untold opportunities for employment throughout the world, whether in India, China, South Africa, or Poland. Rarely in history have employment opportunities been as broad and plentiful for those choosing to sacrifice and work hard, have medical advances been as astonishing, and has freedom been as universally shared and enjoyed.

Too often, though, change is viewed through the prism of conflict and negativity. We do live in remarkable times, but we are encapsulated in a similarly destabilizing time. The military overthrow of the Egyptian government, the devastating rise in spending and fall in productivity in Greece, the corruption that pervades many countries on the African continent, and the sinking employment opportunities in the United States are prominent examples. We have witnessed millions lose their jobs through changing technology and communications, countless lose their health and retirement benefits through rampant cost-cutting as organizations try to compete with new entrants into the global marketplace, and thousands lose their homes through foreclosure as they are unable to pay their mortgage and other basic expenses. The old are unable to retire, while the young are unable to find jobs.

Such is the nature of change and its profound impact on the physical, emotional, and social lives of the world's inhabitants.

Simultaneously, morphing social mores are seen to undermine our faith in community and weaken the bonds within our family and friends. Divorce seems to be more commonplace, and single-parent families are becoming more the norm than the exception. Some of these circumstances did not exist decades ago, yet these events have become representative of the destructive repercussions of a changing world, symbolic of a fast-paced age that decimates the hopes and dreams of far too many. No matter the advances achieved, there are those left behind who lament a time more favorable, and its return more advantageous.

Like death and taxes, change is a certainty in life. However, over the past half century, change has progressed at a pace unrivaled in our history. Never before has change advanced so rapidly and continuously as it has during the second half of the twentieth century. The transition from an agrarian to industrial society occurred over a century, while the transition from laptops to tablets occurred, it seemed, over a few years. Cameras and Kodak film ruled the picture business for more than a century, yet the dominance of digital cameras lasted less than a decade before smartphones made carrying a camera unnecessary for many. State and city maps were a staple of the summer vacation for decades, a circumstance made irrelevant with the advent of handheld GPS devices. They generated millions annually, but their dominance lasted less than a decade as iPhones and Android phones offered free mobile applications similar to GPS devices. GPS device sales plummeted, and as the GPS device made handheld maps obsolete, so too shortly thereafter did iPhones and Android phones make the GPS device obsolete. Change forced the handheld GPS devices onto the scrap heap of technology, a place littered with once grand products.

Whereas the time frame for previous generations to relearn, retool, and retrain according to the new methods and technologies lasted years or even decades, the time frame for today's generation seems to be measured in months. This fact has led to a rising tide of insecurity and instability felt by so many today. This segment of the population mistakenly targets its anger at the negative consequences of change rather than its positive results such as better health care, a cleaner environment, and a recognition that fairness and equality should be hallmarks of a progressive society.

Though it bewilders some and invigorates others, we live in a remarkable era. Progress has cured many diseases and fed millions of people, and there is still more that can be done. Ironically, change is a greater force for stability than inability, and its welcome occurrence has led to a better standard of living, not worse, for most of the world's population.

Change must be viewed as advantageous and to be welcomed

The degree of acceptance or resistance to change is almost solely related to how much people perceive they will benefit from the change. Few resist a medication change that alleviates discomfort, a performance evaluation that results in a pay increase, the installation of airbags that drastically reduces injury and the risk of death in an accident, the generation of solar power that reduces our carbon footprint, or the passage of a new telecommuting policy that allows you to work from home. Few resist the change that results in a new car, free vacations, new promotions, higher salary, bigger homes, better friends, lottery winnings, or greater longevity. Though these changes can have profound impacts on one's life, they are welcome changes because one's interests are advanced, regardless of the level of control one has over the change itself.

As we have learned, change—whether expected or unexpected, planned or unplanned—is not the force of destruction that so many expect and believe. At its most basic, it is a change in circumstances, and the consequences of those circumstances are a determining factor in how one responds to change. The degree of resistance to change is nearly wholly determined by the ability of the changer to convey the personal benefit the changee would receive from the change. Change must be framed as a benefit to those involved. Layoffs in one area of an organization must be seen as necessary to benefit the remaining areas of the organization. Higher taxes are universally resisted unless they can be shown to benefit the public. The closure of a public school is fought unless residents believe monies can be diverted to remaining schools to raise scholastic possibilities and achievements.

The notion that change is resisted because it is different or that most people resist change is simply untrue. Most resist change because the consequences of the change are not advantageous. Thus, for change to be heartedly welcomed, gratefully accepted, and collaboratively implemented, it must be seen as advantageous to those affected or impacted.

Change favors those in control of their future

At its core, change is about doing something different: creating a different product, service, vision, organization, process, or person. It is about planning to do something tomorrow different from what has been done today or doing something today different from what was done yesterday. It is altering the manner in which someone thinks, believes, acts, and behaves. It is changing ambitions and desires, hopes and dreams, and the destiny that one hopes to realize.

Too many believe that they are powerless to stop the storms of change. Not many welcome the opportunity to be powerless to determine their own future and fate. Even fewer welcome the opportunity of being dictated to or being dominated by happenstance and circumstance. Throughout history, millions of citizens have rebelled against the powerful and the dominating, demanding more control over their future than subservience to others.

Most want the ability to control their future, and change that affects this ability is nearly universally opposed and resisted. They see themselves as victims of circumstances, as if they are buoys marking the waves of a thunderous ocean. Nothing can be done to slow the rising tide or tame the currents that slam into the buoys, and they are therefore pounded by events beyond their control.

Bell buoys are stationary, sedentary blocks without direction. They exist to occupy a space and perform a singular task, even if that task is no longer needed or valued. The waters may rise or fall or move fast or slow, but the buoy remains committed to its mission. They are rudderless objects in a vast ocean, performing a task that scarcely has any value as the waves crash against this seemingly worthless object.

The bell buoy exists to perform a singular task that is beneficial to very few. It neither moves nor responds to the often-vicious pounding of the sea. That, though, is by design. It is undeterred in performing its function, no matter the repercussions. As such, the bell buoy is required to perform its task regardless of the damage done, which most certainly will occur.

While bell buoys exert little control over their station in life, the same cannot be said for most people. Most have control over the type of company for which they work, the type of clubs they choose to join, the type of debts they assume, and the type of income they make. They have control over the type of person they marry, the type of friends they make, and the very type of person they endeavor to become. Each choice reflects a degree of control you have over your future, regardless of whether you choose to exercise that right.

You can be the catalyst for change or the consequence of change. Too many fail to choose the right path in life and therefore become victims of their own poor choices. They have relinquished their responsibility to choose their own path in life and determine their own fate. They are not victims of change they cannot control; they are victims of poor professional and personal choices and have become susceptible to the winds of a changing world.

Those most disadvantaged by change are those who have abdicated control to make their own decisions and choose their own path for their future. By doing so, they have been the victim, by choice, of a future they are now powerless to control.

Change favors those who can adapt to a different future

All too regularly, change is miscast, misguided, and miscommunicated. Employees are told they must do more with less, but not often told it is because the organization wants to expand funding for research and development efforts. Employees are told the number of employees must be reduced and compensation reconfigured, but not told it is so the organization can better compete against low-wage countries throughout the world. These organizations that take the often-difficult and treacherous opportunity to change their very operations (to rethink, retool, and refocus their operations and cultures) are creating organizations designed to better compete in an increasingly complex business environment, take advantage of changing circumstances, and morph with the age and stand the test of time.

These changes offer the best chance for the long-term viability of the organization and those who serve it. But there is a price to pay, and for some, it is heady. Reduced employment opportunities, diminished promotional prospects, falling salaries, and diminishing benefits are the price to pay for some, while continued employment and a higher income are the rewards for others. Change does not determine the winners and losers. Rather, it is a person's ability to adapt to change that may be the defining characteristic of those who are advantaged and disadvantaged by change.

We have greater control over our lives than it might seem, and in those scarce occasions where we seemingly have little control over events in our life, we do have the ability to adapt to that new future if we choose to exercise that right. We may not be able to choose the new supervisors or managers of our organization, but we can adapt to their different personalities, styles, and ambitions. We may not be able to understand the latest cellular technology (with its growing applications and complexities), but we can adapt to its use. We may be affected by the movement from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy, but we can adapt to the new workplace by returning to school and gaining broader knowledge and skills that increase our chances of future employability. In general, a changing world is a better world, though some are destined not to benefit—at least initially.

Sadly, adaptation is terribly difficult. Personal insecurities and jealousies hinder our ability to adapt to changing cultures and mores, destroying even the strongest relationships. Fewer marriages survive, and few friendships last a lifetime. Times change, and the inability or unwillingness to adapt causes the destruction of the very relationships necessary during turbulent times.

However, adaptation does not mean abandonment. We should never abandon those values and goodness that are the very essence of who we are and what we stand for. We should never turn toward incivility if incivility is rewarded or animosity if that destructive trait becomes the prevailing characteristic of a group or organization. We can adapt our knowledge, skills, perceptions, and understandings. We cannot, however, abandon our sense of right or wrong, hate or love, and good or bad.

As we progress through life, there are occasions where change must be resisted and a future must not be experienced. We should not adapt to the new supervisor who is morally challenged and ethically corrupt, whose only happiness comes from the denigration of his or her employees (a circumstance I have experienced). Nor should we adapt to the rudeness of our children because that is the socially acceptable culture of their generation. We must stand firm and never abandon the noble and decent values ingrained in a good person, but be willing to adapt where adaptation does not conflict with a fair and just society.

The ability to adapt to an unknown and more complex future benefits those who are ambitious, energetic, and confident, traits that are emblematic of a person who thinks, believes, acts, and behaves differently. While one may not have the ability to control or benefit from the future, one does have the ability to adapt to it, and it is this adaptation that determines the happiness or sadness and success or failure of living during changing times within a changing world.

In nearly every instance, change offers the chance for a better life

Change can be unnerving and unsettling, damaging and destabilizing. It can shorten an organization's life span or redirect the trajectory of one's future. It can be the transformational event of one's life, but far too often, the consequences of change are couched in negative and destructive tones, which is unfortunate because most change has been beneficial to humanity. From medical advances to the liberation of millions in tyranny, from telephones that connect families to technologies that protect communities, change has benefitted far more than has been harmed.

It is change that has advanced the interests of millions over the past generation. Changing cultures, changing philosophies, and changing ideologies have created a society less burdened with segregation, less tolerant of denigration, and more accepting of lifestyle choices. Freedom has become the rule rather than the exception, with inhabitants having greater autonomy to choose their own direction in life and realize their own fate, not one that has been preselected or predisposed.

It has become a different world, an even better world. Martin Luther King Jr. endured decades of discrimination before leading a nonviolent protest for civil rights and in the process changing the way we view others. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher fought against the confines of communism, liberating hundreds of millions from its destructive practices. Pope John Paul II forgave the man who nearly assassinated him, reinforcing the importance of forgiveness within a compassionate society. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for twenty-seven years as a result of his fight against apartheid and emerged from prison a man of integrity and grace in the face of humiliating circumstances.