It happened again.  I submitted a proposal for an engagement and was advised that the organization had decided to use someone else “more traditional.”  Another note stated, “we found someone familiar with the Delaware ways.”

Telling.  It told me that these folks weren’t really ready for change, they just wanted to go through some motions to make it appear as if they were ready for change.   But at what cost?

In the market of downsize, right size, outsize and upsize, there is one constant and that is change. As a follower of T Falcon Napier, we predicate our solutions on the belief that “people are not resistant to change; but they are resistant to losing control.”

Willing organizations permit successful reinvention of their staff, their service, their outputs and outcomes.  On that journey to reinvention, how able one is to create what isn’t will predict their preparedness to be successful.  How they discover what they can and cannot control, will design or destroy their future.

The very term reinvention implies that you will bring something back into existence after a period of neglect or obscurity.  If you haven’t been paying attention to the business of your business, you are in this situation.  If you’ve been unable to control market chaos, your need to accommodate change in a more productive manner may have been obscured. How will you clear your lens?

During your reinvention, what is your new story, the lasting story, the story that will lead your legacy? Which habits will accommodate that reinvention?  Which practices are antiquated? How will you radically change the appearance of your organization or do you need to go that far?

What do you need to accept personally to be able to understand that with which you are unfamiliar? Will you ask all of the questions you need to hurdle over sustainability and flourish? Or will you merely re-arrange the furniture and expect great things to happen.  Ever notice that a new coat of paint does wonders for morale - for awhile.  And then, what? 

Who told you the single most important question you need to ask, “in case of an emergency?” Where is that hotline? When should I have called?

Typically, there is a great deal of banter surrounding anticipated needed changes.  The surest way to fail is to relieve team members of their personal stake in setting and achieving the new goals.  Everywhere you look, the habits that were not broken and the insistence to return to the old ways are surefire paths to continued collapse.  

How will you hold your team accountable? If you answer no other question than this one, and implement the answers, inherent change will follow.

While looking at the daunting view of change, embrace what makes sense for you and your team and do it incrementally.  Circle the wagons; bring in an expert. Sometimes an outside set of eyes may direct your attention to something that had never arisen before; a set of ears, may hear one thing that could change the face of providing service to your customers.

The choices you make with the information you have at hand will sculpt your future. No one who remains stagnant thrives. To grow, you must expand your base of knowledge, skills and experience and evaluate yourself along the way; or not.

Most of all when you are considering the costs for your actions, remember to calculate the cost for no action. Estimate the resources you need, the time, staff, learning curves and other support.  Then, be sure to project exactly where your organization, your business will be if you do nothing.

Old habits are hard to die and that firm in Delaware may live forever, but I highly doubt it would be with the same purpose as what could have been.

Those that knowingly invent their change and do not conform to whatever is thrown their way will prevail.

When faced with choices, be intentional. 

If you need support, predicting your next phase in your personal or professional journey, contact me at ineedchange@bestprincipledsolutions.com.  Check out my website at https://www.bestprincipledsolutions.com for additional information about my services. This article was prepared for NonProfit Direct, the National NonProfit Resource Directory.  For more information about their services, or to subscribe to their newsletter, go to www.nonprofit-direct.com .