I’ve been thinking a lot about babies. My nephew’s wife is pregnant and so is one of my good friends. I’ve enjoyed seeing their bellies grow and studying sonogram pictures to figure out whose nose the baby has. We don’t have children so it’s fascinating to me.
Several years ago a dear friend of mine was pregnant (3rd trimester) with her first child, a sweet, precious girl named Hannah. I’ll never forget sitting with her one day, talking about her experience being pregnant. We talked about all the physiological changes she was going through, the weird cravings and the raging hormones. She surprised me when she said, “Alicia, I have a confession to make. I’m really scared about bringing this baby into the world. I almost don’t want her to be born because if she stays within me, I know she’ll be safe.”
I wonder if babies in the womb feel the same way. They are warm, sheltered, fed and have everything they need. They are safe.
Then they turn upside down, and through a tremendous amount of pressure and squeezing, they are pushed out into a world of chaos – bright lights, loud voices and cold air. Most don’t like it and proclaim their dismay loudly to everyone in the room.
My friends, we can often be like unborn babies. We stay in the safety zone of the things we know, the things with which we are most familiar. We close ourselves off to new ideas, paradigms and people.
About Change
There are two types of change: the change we initiate and the change that happens to us. Both can be difficult.
The Change We Initiate
Seth Godin, in his book Purple Cow, has something to say about the change we initiate. He says that innovation and creativity are essential business skills and entrepreneurs will fail without them. I happen to agree. The world is changing rapidly around us and that means we need to invest in innovation for our businesses. If we don’t, we will become irrelevant. And irrelevant is exactly what your competition wants you to be.
A great example of an innovative company is Crayola. From changing the names of their crayons to developing washable markers to most recently, creating 3-D sidewalk chalk, Crayola has embraced change which has helped them continue to stay relevant. In fact, they have a team of employees whose sole focus is innovation. In their Supplier’s Guide, Crayola says: “At Crayola we are committed to finding and developing new technologies that enable us to be on the leading edge of providing safe, innovative new products to satisfy our customers. To achieve these goals, we have a Future Innovation Team that focuses on the development of new technology to be transformed into products that fill the Crayola pipeline and fuel the overall growth of our creative offerings.” (Note: I searched for financial data to see if there was a correlation between their newest innovations and financial growth. Unfortunately, financial information is challenging to find as they are a privately owned company. However they earned a reported $675 million in 2008.)
On the other hand, I recently met a woman desperate to grow her business. However, she does not know how to use email. I don’t know why she did not keep up with technology over the years. But I know this, if she had initiated change to learn about computers, she would not have an technological Everest to face today. You see, she had the opportunity to initiate change by learning how to use a computer; but instead, the change has now happened to her.
It’s up to us to move ourselves out of the incubator and outside of our safety zones. And we don’t need Crayola’s millions to do it either. Some cost effective methods are:
- Taking classes
- Reading books
- Watching You Tube and other videos; one of my favorite sites is TED
- Surrounding ourselves with innovative and creative people
- Attending conferences
- Working with an accountability partner
- Joining a Mastermind group
- Reading blogs
- Surrounding ourselves with people who are smarter than we are
The Change That Happens To Us
There is the change that we initiate and then the change that happens to us, change that is out of our control.
Benjamin Franklin famously said: “Nothing is certain in life but death and taxes.” He’s missing something though. My revision is “Nothing is certain in life but death, taxes and change.”
Change is unavoidable. For a blessed few people, life will tenderly transition them into the unknown. But there are times that we reach newness of life only through the squeezing and painful pushing of circumstances out of our control. And when that happens, just like babies, you can scream about it and throw a tantrum. Be angry and mad. But then accept it and grow.
How do you get over your fears of change?
By the way, Trish McFarlane, at the HR Ringleader blog, wrote this fascinating post about the links between creativity, innovation and change.
Photo courtesy of titlap via Flickr.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes, with baby number 2 coming and other life changes on the way, we know what fear of the unknown is.
But we’ve learned to embrace it, nurture it and let it thrive — in our best interest — because we only control a small portion of “what happens” — but we do control most of “how we respond to what happens”.
Change is constant and we have to constantly adapt; I believe in the ownership of proactive reactivity.
I used to be a fraidy cat, but I learned to do and be, not to wish.
Rock on, Alicia!
Kevin, you are always a source of inspiration! “…learning to do an be, not to wish” is a great mantra to have.
Alicia,
I always love reading your posts, because they are well-thought-out, intuitive, creative and frequently focused on the subject at hand today: CHANGE.
No doubt about it some change is frightening and painful, as you describe; other change, when initiated, may initially feel like jumping off the edge of a cliff and then turn into an exhilarating flight with a smooth landing.
Whether the innovation we attempt falls flat or proves successful, we must continue ‘trying ‘in order to be relevant and forward-moving.
Admittedly, I’ve had life change that I encountered unexpectedly (seemingly blindsided), but generally, I like to think proactively and optimistically, hoping that the challenging change today will result in the value-add work/life results tomorrow! And if it doesn’t, I learn from it, and move on to the next great opportunity!
Love your ‘cost-effective methods’ for achieving change, especially the idea of surrounding oneself with creative/innovative people. Basking in their creative light will help!
Bottom line: face the fear … and grow!
Cheers, Alicia!
Jacqui
Jacqui, thank you for your comment. Those of us who are working proactively towards improving can be a great support to those who are struggling with their fears. You are an inspiration!