Change
It's a shame that the phrase, "change management," seems so passe today, because I would argue it's a more relevant topic now than when it was a consulting-speak buzzword in the 1990's. After all, the only thing that doesn't change is that there will always be change. And as the rate of change accelerates, so does the importance of managing that change become all the more important.
I have noticed that, in my own life and in conversations with others, the same themes recur when it comes to change. I'm focusing my thoughts on our attitudes towards change as we are a part of three types of entities: workplaces, non-work groups (with church being the most prominent one), and neighborhoods. When we identify ourselves as the side that's having change brought upon us:
* We can express shock that someone would dare even consider messing with something so dear to us (a work division, a worship format, a local icon).
* We can tend to demonize the worst of what post-change will look like: loss of jobs, loss of community, loss of local character.
* We can tend to glamorize the best of what pre-change used to look like: "remember when," "not like how we used to do it," "we wouldn't have done it like that before."
Meanwhile, if we're the ones making the change happen, we can tend towards some of the following attitudes:
* We can express disdain that others would be so stuck in the blandness of the past that they'd be unable to see the flavor of the future.
* We can tend to equate change as inherently good, always superior to doing nothing.
* We can so assume the correctness of our agenda that we don't take the time to consider and value others' agendas.
In businesses, churches, and communities, change is inevitable. Jobs and departments will be created, consolidated, and closed. An organization's customs and norms will evolve over time. A neighborhood will have inflows and outflows of people and structures.
Jesus spoke of new wine bursting old wineskins to illustrate how the religious old guard was bursting at the seams because they couldn't accept the newness of His teaching. Jesus also went to temple, was a practicing Jew, and declared that He didn't come to destroy the established law but to fulfill it.
Freezing the status quo is impossible. So is instituting change without bumps and hiccups. We should neither assume that change is always better, nor should we rigidly fight change because we are afraid. If we are the changer, we ought to be a sympathetic listener and a respecter of current members and methods, but not compromise on change that will be ultimately good for the group. If we are the changee, we ought to hear out the whats and whys of the change, speak our mind where we are uncomfortable, and make sure our hearts are open and not closed off.
While I regret that the phrase, "change management," has gone out of style, I do have one critique of what it meant in the 1990's. Usually it was associated with a distinct transition, and managing an organization through to the end of that transition from where it started. I would argue that there is no beginning or end to transition, that while we might have seasons and campaigns of transition, we are ever changing and therefore ever in need of "change management." Would that whether we are the changer or the changee, we do "change management" well.
I have noticed that, in my own life and in conversations with others, the same themes recur when it comes to change. I'm focusing my thoughts on our attitudes towards change as we are a part of three types of entities: workplaces, non-work groups (with church being the most prominent one), and neighborhoods. When we identify ourselves as the side that's having change brought upon us:
* We can express shock that someone would dare even consider messing with something so dear to us (a work division, a worship format, a local icon).
* We can tend to demonize the worst of what post-change will look like: loss of jobs, loss of community, loss of local character.
* We can tend to glamorize the best of what pre-change used to look like: "remember when," "not like how we used to do it," "we wouldn't have done it like that before."
Meanwhile, if we're the ones making the change happen, we can tend towards some of the following attitudes:
* We can express disdain that others would be so stuck in the blandness of the past that they'd be unable to see the flavor of the future.
* We can tend to equate change as inherently good, always superior to doing nothing.
* We can so assume the correctness of our agenda that we don't take the time to consider and value others' agendas.
In businesses, churches, and communities, change is inevitable. Jobs and departments will be created, consolidated, and closed. An organization's customs and norms will evolve over time. A neighborhood will have inflows and outflows of people and structures.
Jesus spoke of new wine bursting old wineskins to illustrate how the religious old guard was bursting at the seams because they couldn't accept the newness of His teaching. Jesus also went to temple, was a practicing Jew, and declared that He didn't come to destroy the established law but to fulfill it.
Freezing the status quo is impossible. So is instituting change without bumps and hiccups. We should neither assume that change is always better, nor should we rigidly fight change because we are afraid. If we are the changer, we ought to be a sympathetic listener and a respecter of current members and methods, but not compromise on change that will be ultimately good for the group. If we are the changee, we ought to hear out the whats and whys of the change, speak our mind where we are uncomfortable, and make sure our hearts are open and not closed off.
While I regret that the phrase, "change management," has gone out of style, I do have one critique of what it meant in the 1990's. Usually it was associated with a distinct transition, and managing an organization through to the end of that transition from where it started. I would argue that there is no beginning or end to transition, that while we might have seasons and campaigns of transition, we are ever changing and therefore ever in need of "change management." Would that whether we are the changer or the changee, we do "change management" well.
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