Change is hard because it is uncomfortable. Allow me for a minute to make a sports analogy.
Everyone in the sports world (and those not in sports) are talking about Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. The other day I was listening to Mike and Mike in the Morning, and someone on the show said that no football team will want him as their quarterback next year.
The reasoning behind this is because Tim Tebow is not a traditional quarterback. He does not throw the ball well. He can run, but it doesn’t look pretty. He is left handed, which means the offensive line has to be made up differently than is normal since most quarterbacks (and most people for that matter) are right handed.
What does all this mean? Because of Tim Tebow’s rather peculiar style of play, it would require a lot of change. But football teams don’t want this kind of change. They want to stay with the status quo. They want to keep things traditional, where they are comfortable.
As a football fan, I agree with this sentiment. It makes sense to go with what is traditional and what has worked over the years. It is often said that the NFL is a “quarterback league” or in other words, you have to have a good if not great quarterback in order to win. Tim Tebow is neither a traditional nor a great quarterback in most analysts (and fans) estimation. Adding him to a team’s roster would require a lot of change. And it would be uncomfortable.
While an unwillingness to change may work for the 32 teams in the NFL, it shouldn’t, rather it WILL NOT work for you or for your organization.
The only thing constant in life is change. Over the last 50 to 100 years there has been more change in business, technology and our world than the hundreds of centuries before them. This will continue to be the case as technology continues to advance.
Refuse to ignore the change. When change happens you will need to change with it.
Don’t accept the status quo. That can only result in failure for the long term.
So why is change hard? Because it requires us to be uncomfortable, even if just for a small amount of time. But it will be more uncomfortable for us when everything is changing around us and we refuse change with it.
No matter what you are doing, go make a change. There is always something you can do better.
Source:
Why Change is Hard