CHANGE, CULTURE SHIFT
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...the less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.
-bruce lee, martial art-ist.
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Change keeps picking up speed. Adjust to one change and get hit with several other changes. We're living in a constant period of transition, and the shelf life of our solutions keeps getting shorter. What works becomes history in a hurry.
Where's it coming from?
People create change: it took 6 million years for a population of 6 billion people, but predictions say in 50 more years we have 6 billion more people.... we should expect a rapid increase in the rate of change as the population doubles.
Technology creates change: 80% of tech inventions happened between 1900-1985, with the last 21 years producing as much if not more than the first 85 years.
Knowledge creates change: the library of information doubles every 5 years now, amazing.
More people, more tech, more info. Maybe you think you've seen a lot of change lately: well, you haven't seen nothing yet. The question is, will we give our own personal culture permission to change, allow ourselves to reveal ourselves fast enough to "let it", flow with it, embrace it, or move through it so we can change.
Change doesn't play favorites, takes no prisoners. In years past we could get by with slower response times, more room for recovery, a chance to collect our breath and senses... but a world of high velocity change calls for radical shifts in behavior.... we can't afford to ignore change totally, or only do what comes naturally from past beliefs, we must face reality, we must do what works. Here's a small sample of changing the way you handle change....
#1: Old pattern: panic. What works: stay cool. Change scares people, nerves, spooky, panic, fear, frenzy, poor judgement, wasted action, all at a time when you need to be a rock. Change should get your attention, you should take it seriously, but not spastic, reactionary... find out what's most important, stay steady and cool headed, focus on a result, and take a well aimed focused action. Create a culture of focus for yourself even under fire.
#2 Old: get ready. What works: get going. Inaction is the most costly mistake. Inertia is crippling, so just get going, keep moving, when you foul up fix it, learn from mistakes and move on, learn your way through the situation.. you can take time to roll up your sleeves but that's it.. create a culture of getting going.
#3 Old: try harder. What works: try easier. The greater the change, the harder people try. They bet the future on old habits. Their heart is in the right place, their intention good, but yesterday's solutions don't fit the opportunites of the future. The secret, simplify; build a culture of simplification, peaceful, productive, easy.
#4 Old: wasted energy, too emotional. What works: energy on solutions. Redirect anger, worry, grief, fear into a passionate pursuit of results.. buckle down, channel your thoughts, get busy instead of mad, work from the heart and heal the spirit. Create a culture of energy-efficiency.
#5 Old: avoid mistakes. What works: make more mistakes. Change worries people about being vulnerable, exposed...jumpy about looking bad, foul ups causing freeze ups, instead of understanding that mistakes are the master educator... with repsect of course.. on the surface it may sound irresponsible, but actually like a lab, failing forward fast, fail your way to the future of more wisdom works as a new personal culture.
#6 Old: believe in the problem. What works: have faith in the opportunity. We need to remember that opportunity comes disguised as problems. The way we think, the way we frame things, heavily influences our outcomes and ability to deal. Think in terms of possibilities instead of limits. Create a culture of optimism, expectancy.
We are an architect of our own culture. We shape it, shift it, change it, even grow out of it...
While just a few tips here, we'll visit more ways to create a culture of change and handling change along the way this year so we can help you speed up when it's what's needed to make things work.
With that in mind, please accept my apologies for a lack of communication the past 4-5 days as my schedule has changed so many times that if i did email you, it would have been outdated as i sent it... and i'm grateful for david subbing while i was away...
I'm back, in class, on the bike this week in our normal sessions tues and thurs at 7pm, wed for 90 minutes at 6pm, and sat and sun at 5pm... revolution 310-393-6399 for a bike.
See you there.
gary.
