You Can’t Change Change

Someone asked me today to write about managing change.  I know it’s a popular topic but when he said it, it sounded so absurd to me.  Manage change?  The very nature of change is that it’s unpredictable.  I think what he really was asking was about how you manage your *reaction* to change: what you do when change happens, rather than maintain the illusion that you actually change the direction of the change.

So here’s my advice:

First, give up the illusion that you control the changes in the universe, or even your little corner of it.  All you can control is your reaction to it.  React with fear and it will feel like you’re in the middle of an ocean with huge waves of change crashing over you.  Keep paddling toward home, toward the vision and values that guide you, and keep your eyes on their beacon.  Things will calm down and yesterday’s change will be today’s acceptable reality.

Second, admit you are not the center of the universe any more.  Yes you were, at least in your mother’s eyes, for a few brief moments shortly after your birth.  But humans are social animals and we are all in it together.  Change doesn’t affect you and no one else.  Take comfort in that and reach out to other people.  They are your lifeboat in the maelstrom.

Third, listen to a political slogan on occasion.  With thanks to Barack Obama, get some of that “change we need.”  Because we need change.  Without change there is no innovation, no technology no new toys.  Think of the goodies it brings if you can’t embrace it because it’s the incontrovertable evidence of a life well lived.