Blink You've Changed

I’ve always marveled at the constant refrain from clients about change – how nobody likes it.  And yet I’ve always felt that the one thing we can all count on IS change.

When we were married -  a really long time ago - my husband made change the focus of his wedding vows. “Throughout our lives we will change, where we live will change, what we do will change…but the one thing that won’t change is my love for you.” Or something really sweet and thoughtful like that. (My vows were a bunch of blabber about love which I can’t remember because I cried my way through them ruining the make-up that took hours to apply).

He was right, though I hate to admit it.   The one thing we could be sure of on this crazy ride of life was change.  We have grown up and old together and the one thing that made the change manageable was the constancy of US.

The funny thing about change is when we deal with it at work we forget that change is inevitable.  People will come and go.  Strategies will change. Challenges will arise. So why can’t everyone just calm down?

We have all just been through the most dramatic event of our lifetimes – a worldwide pandemic.  One that brought with it huge changes.  Instantly we had to change how we worked, how we lived and how we interacted with each other.  The pandemic reminded me that in addition to the inevitability of “change” we should also be aware of and ready for, “unpredictability” its messier cousin.

I have always been a huge fan of the brilliant Margaret Heffernan. Her TedTalk about unpredictability delivering in 2019 is the most prescient and spot-on solution for how to deal with the inevitability of unpredictability – be more human. In an impassioned plea to all those relying more and more on technology to solve problems, she makes the case for human-centered solutions that bring with them all the resilience and creativity that humanity has to offer.

And she was right. In the end, human creativity, generosity and solutions have brought us through this challenging time.

As change continues to happen every moment we have to center ourselves in our humanity to weather the unpredictability, the anxiety and the hardships that might also come our way.

Ultimately, my lesson from this seismic time in the world is that the only constants should come from within:

·       Aligning your purpose with your work. 

·       Assuring your values are showing up every day in how you work.

·       Creating a vision that is worth following.  

We are changing every moment of every day – of that we can be sure – but at the end of each day, taking the time to examine what has changed us for the good will help us weather whatever unpredictable change will come tomorrow.