If you want to succeed, you better commit this quote to memory: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Now, you can decide if you want to be on “Team Ben” or “Team Al,” because no one seems to be quite sure if Benjamin Franklin or Albert Einstein actually came up with this quote. However, they’re both geniuses, so you can’t lose either way.
You will lose if you see change as your enemy and fight it tooth-and-nail every step of the way.
Franklin, who went out kite-flying and discovered electricity, would probably tell you change might shock you at first, but it is the energy you need to make things happen. Einstein, who discovered that neither time, weight, nor mass is constant, would surely also tell you that you can’t have stone-carved strategies in a world moving at the speed of light.
One of the most frustrating things I encounter as a business coach is clients who are eager to improve yet unwilling to change. I recently posted this frustration on Twitter.
That was right after meeting with a business owner who is in trouble. It’s a sad situation really; he is making less than half the money needed to pay bills, never mind making enough money to have a thriving, enjoyable life. But here’s the disturbing part -- input, advice and new ideas were volleyed back at me faster than Misty May-Treanor or Kerri Walsh ever could. Unfortunately, this situation is not unique.
Most of us hate change. But here’s the bottom line: You can’t eat cheeseburgers and milkshakes, sit on the couch, watch TV for hours and “lose weight while you sleep” with some miracle pill. That pill doesn’t exist for weight loss and it doesn’t exist for small businesses either. So before you reach for the placebo, toughen up and swallow these three truths about change.
Three Truths About Change
1. Just because “everyone does it that way,” doesn’t mean it still works. We used to think the world was flat, too.
2. Nothing in this world stays the same. Dead things rot. Living things change and grow. Customers’ needs ebb and flow.
3. If you hold on to “how you’ve always done it” too tightly, your hands will never be open to receive new opportunities.
And if you don’t listen to Einstein or Franklin, take a listen to Sheryl Crow. She knows what she’s talking about, too – when she says “A Change Will Do You Good.”
If you want to succeed, you better commit this quote to memory: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Alicia, this is a timely + meaningful post. Thanks for sharing.
Let’s embrace 2010 with the notion that change is both necessary in uncertain times + a wonderful thing. Innovation most often occurs in a state of change/flux. (My favorite)
If you only look to the past for guidance you will likely miss what is lining up for the future. Cheers.
I couldn’t have said it better myself Meghan:
“Let’s embrace 2010 with the notion that change is both necessary in uncertain times + a wonderful thing. Innovation most often occurs in a state of change/flux. (My favorite)”
Thank you for your comment!