Follow Your Passions

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.
- Alfred North Whitehead

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
- Charles Darwin

It was about one year ago that I heard of a philosophy about change held by one of the leaders of the organization I work for. I can’t recall the precise quote, but at its essense was the idea that without change you cannot have growth. Literally! So if you want to grow personally, in any way, you must accept that change will be a part of it.

This was the beginning of a major shift for me in terms of how I viewed and emotionally responded to major change events when they occured. Something I have spoken of previously in this blog is the value of being able to look at any given situation or event and see the opportunity that exists within it. It is so easy to give in to things like fear or concern about the unknown when some drastic shift occurs in your life. But that cloud of chaos floating above everyone’s head during turbulent times often will rain gems of untold value to those who, instead of covering their heads and crouching down to avoid being hit, will stand up instead and reach out to catch them. The fear and concern about the unknown is ultimately about feeling out of control, and I have found that the best way to get that sense of control back is to seize upon the amazing amount of opportunities that are present in times of signficant change. It is, in fact, often these times that most allow you to shape your own destiny.

Change is not only inevitable, it is in many ways perpetual. Not all change happens in broad, sweeping events you can clearly identify and react to. More subtle forms of change may be easier to handle emotionally, but if you aren’t reacting and adapting well to it, you may realize the shift has occured one day and scratch your head as to how you missed it. A colleague and mentor of sorts recently shared with me the following Peter F. Drucker quote - “Do not continue to do in your new assignment what made you successful in the old one. When you enter a new assignment, ask ‘What new things should I be doing in my new assignment to be effective?’” You have many talents that you use, consciously or not, to get through the tasks of the day. I have come to think of talents as energy, which can power a vast number of tools and skills depending on what a situation calls for. By constantly assessing and reassessing your environment and the tasks at hand, you’ll not only become a natural at rolling with change as it happens, you’ll build those talents you have and become that much stronger for it.