My “slogan” (for want of a better term) for this website is “Be the change you want to see”. I didn’t come up with it, Ghandi did. Many of his sayings, if you have the time, force you to stop and contemplate things. My wife often calls me “the thinker” and my family will often say that I’m “deep”.
I really can’t help but take a step back from problems I face at work or at home and think about the bigger picture and what the objectives of solving the problems are. When I was in high school I played chess. I was REALLY bad and didn’t win a single game but the room was air conditioned so in summer it was great – being cool was my motivation (who would have thought that Chess players were cool?). Decisions can be like a game of chess…every single move you make has flow-on effects and consequences. If you always make the same moves or choose the same “safe” options your opponent will soon figure out your patterns and they will hinder you and block you from achieving your goals. No-one takes notice and this is unhelpful. One of the many strategies to good decision making is having that ability to make connections between seemingly unrelated issues or situations. This takes experience and diversity of experience.
I have written a previous post on the perceived challenges of change (link). Change keeps people at the top of their game, without change there would be no evolution, no innovation, and no new ideas. Change has forced me to continually learn and evolve. Change is sometimes hard, but even though it is hard, it is still good because we learn how to strengthen our resolve and we learn how to trust people who we don’t know. As Ghandi says: Be the change you want to see. I want to see change in this world and I am trying to achieve this change by thinking of others and moving toward dedicating my life in the service of others.
If you are a member of a team (at work or at play) that has had the same old players saying the same old things and you are in a rut, struggling for inspiration, or have your back against the wall: what do you suppose you can do? You need to change something. Change and renewal bring unparalleled energy and focus for the task (that hasn’t changed). Often it is the new member of the team that can being about this renewal and teams should embrace this enthusiasm.
Barack Obama was elected on the promise of change….a change in the way things are done. He was untested, but he had hope and he was different…the new kid in the team. He was given that chance and hopefully things can now change for the better. It is time for a change.