Change: Beginning, options and outcomes
When I recently launched my new business, Imaginate Development, my young son said, “Mummy, Imaginate is not a word! My reply: “Exactly!”
But could “imaginate” be a word? And if it was a regular word, found in the dictionary, what would be its definition? For me the definition would be around assisting in bringing to life something which exists in the imagination.
And why do our words, the way we operate need to conform to set rules anyway? We have only to look at words themselves and see they are more than happy to evolve, to progress, to change. In the 14th century, the word “naughty” used to mean having naught or nothing. Similarly, in the 13th century, were you to call something “nice” you would not have intended a positive compliment!
Can we as individuals also change, be encouraged to look at things differently, challenge and grow in perhaps more surprising, unexpected ways? Can we initiate change?
So my first blog post is therefore about this very subject, change.
The Beginning – Reasons why change happens
The world around us does not stay still. Change is an inevitable part of our life.
Within the workplace, many of the reasons change happens are seen as pressures which are placed upon us: changing customer demands, competitor progress, the latest government legislation, under-performance and a need to step up the pace, team and organisational restructures or never before dreamed of technological advances.
At times, change happens slowly, seen on the horizon, slowly tracking its inevitable way towards us. At other times, it’s sudden, unexpected, leaving us unprepared, feeling vulnerable.
For me, having worked at a great organisation for 21 years, change has happened. I have my own consultancy business! It has been interesting for me to consider what made me move on. What was the push from inertia to this change which I am now fully embracing?
The Options – Imaginate what could be…
Change is sometimes seen as a pressure, unwanted, something to be feared and resisted. For others, change may be seen as an opportunity to see things anew, to learn, to grow. What about you? How do you tend to view change? What is your default view?
We naturally approach change in differing ways, perhaps because of how we are brought up, past experiences, learned behaviour, work preferences. It is in our nature to behave as we do. We can, I feel, also make definite choices and choose to approach change in differing ways. We can choose to let change work for us.
We can consider what our current state is, what our current attitude to the change is, have an awareness of why we are feeling as we do about the change. We can then explore what might be. Imaginate…
As Socrates famously proposed:
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new”
Imaginate…
Visualise yourself within this new space.
What needs to change to make you feel more comfortable in this new space?
How could you be more effective, more productive, more successful in this new space?
What positive steps can you take?
How could others support you?
The Outcomes – Making change work
Whether on a personal, team or organisational level, change can be an opportunity to consider new perspectives, to achieve success in new areas.
We can also be encouraged to be more conscious of change, to initiate change ourselves rather than passively let change happen to us. Feeling that we are in control of our surroundings, our destiny, that certainty, can make us feel more positive and equipped to cope.
And whether personally or in our teams, consider what change is happening, what are the opportunities to learn, develop and grow. As Karen Kaiser Clark said:
“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”
There will rarely be times when change does not feel scary and uncertain but we can learn to be more positive and make the change work for us.
For more information on working with change, whether personally or with teams, get in touch….