Growth, Learning, And Change–The Triple Threat

Contributed by Elaine Landau

Change is not always easy. In fact, many people fear change so much that they would rather stay in a horrible situation than make a change. You deserve better than that, even if you don’t realize it yourself.

Change is part of growing up, not growing old. If you ever have the opportunity to interview aged persons who are still quite vital and enjoy life, you will discover a common thread. They roll with the punches, in their way. They still have a healthy curiosity and still “want to know” about things. That is growth. That is learning. And that leads to healthy change.

Chances are, you are not a curious octogenarian, but you are still facing a lot of changes in your life, both personal and professional. You may be facing parenthood for the first time while contemplating a position in management. Gee, we never make it easy on ourselves, do we? But the truth is, both changes will help you grow and broaden your life experience. One experience may actually help facilitate the other change. I noted that one of my managers used basic preschool rules in setting up staff meetings. She had two young children who were currently in preschool so she was borrowing from one scenario to improve another. Her meetings were always productive. Having her children attend preschool for the first time was probably a very dramatic change in her personal life, yet she was able to take that change and use aspects of it to improve her professional life. That kind of cross-pollination of ideas makes change vital and exciting.

Let’s say your position requires a lot of research. You have grown comfortable with your daily trips to the local library. You enjoy the quiet environment. Now, gas is sky high and the trips to the library are costing you real money. Your boss is asking for more and more research, and you are not keeping up. It is clear that your situation requires making a change. You may decide that the Internet is your best option, but how do you become proficient fast enough to keep up with your deadlines? (Another fear of change. It takes time.) In this case, you can learn at home. If you have basic computer education, you can slip right into basic Internet training without a lot of hoopla. Take a free Internet lesson. That will lead to free Internet tutorials and other free Internet training. Now, you can do your research faster and at home, saving time and gas money.

It becomes clear that the benefits of changes are like dominoes. One affects another change that starts another and another. Soon, the initial change is history and you are onto yet another challenge. And with each change, it is a little less difficult to take a chance. With the positive changes you have experienced, you have every reason to expect positive results from change. But what if the results are negative?

Many times managers try to implement change to improve communication, strengthen team bonds, and increase productivity. Sometimes, when introducing change to a group of employees, one or two people may be apprehensive or downright stubborn in accepting the change. There may even be some levels of sabotage in an effort to go back to the way things were. The problem is, the change was initiated because improvement was needed. If an employee cannot embrace change and go with the flow, that employee may be forced into another situation. Indeed, that employee’s perception of change will remain negative.

The best way a manager can introduce change is to explain the big picture. Nobody likes to work in a vacuum. And the parental reason for doing something -- “because I said so, that’s why”–falls short in a professional setting. If the manager takes a professional approach, by fully informing his/her staff about the reason for the change and the implementation of the change, it reduces the amount of resistance, resentment and overall fear. The department will experience growth as their bonds strengthen and as productivity does increase, the department can unilaterally feel a sense of accomplishment. Growth, learning, and change all benefit the individual employee, the team and the company.

As a manager, it is not recommended to implement change just to shake things up. If you have a smooth-running organization, try to improve things at a level that will not affect your employee moral. If they perceive change as management’s way of cracking the whip, any good that came out of previous changes will be buried in a sea of discontentment.

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