Change is everywhere. We look back only a few short years and we see the rapid evolution of the Internet and of the communications business. Remember your first cell phone? Seems decades ago, doesn’t it? Now we get email and instant messages, buy stocks and movie tickets … all on our cell phones. My, how things have changed!
As we move into this brave new world of the 21st Century we must know how we respond to change because change will be one of the most common themes we see.
But how *we* respond to change is only one part of the equation. To prepare to deal with change we must also recognize that the people we work with will be undergoing the same paradigm shifts as we.
Do we help or hinder? Are we agents of change or missionaries for the status quo?
No matter how you feel about change, here are three practical things you can do to make living in a world of change just a little smoother.
- 1. Let others be themselves.
- Be open minded.
- Untrain your brain.
- Know yourself.
Develop an awareness of how others around you adapt to change. Some people just are not comfortable with technology. Or open communication. If we want to help others grow, let’s give them the freedom to adapt to change on their schedule and in their own way.
Bottom line, if someone just doesn’t get this email thing (or thinks it’s a fad!), be willing to use the phone if that is what they need.
Some change is good, some bad. Not all new technology works, especially at first. And you can take notes faster on a legal pad than a Palm Pilot. The key here, as in most of life, is balance. Know yourself and give yourself permission to use a blend of tools that’s right for you. Don’t feel compelled to use the “latest and greatest” unless it improves your life or increases your productivity.
Many of us grew up in the 50’s. Our Dad’s worked for one company until they retired. The loved the company. The trusted the company. Today things can be different indeed. Now we talk about our “third career”, the one we’ll have *after* we retire.
This is not to say that the loyalty and goodwill created in the 50’s has no place today. It is to say that we live in a different world, a different time. Does your thinking reflect today or your parent’s today?
Are you an early adopter? [If you know what that term means, you probably are!]
An early adopter is that person who is the first on the block to embrace new technology. They had a Palm pilot at about the same time others moved from a legal pad to a Franklin planner. *They* are the ones trading stock on the cell phone! 😉
Whether you are an early adopter or a “I like things as they are” person (or somewhere in between) it is important to know that and act accordingly. The last thing your productivity needs is to fight a losing battle with the changing times for no reason. You are just as free to use the legal pad as the Palm. What works for you is the right choice.
This world will keep on changing whether we fight it or not. The good news is that we are free to do *our* thing in this world, whether that thing is using a pencil or a keyboard.
People will react to change differently. Celebrate your differences; don’t let them become a stumbling block.
Eva Gregory is the author of The Feel Good Guide to Prosperity
All rights reserved. http://www.feelgoodguide.com
