This New Thing

When THIS NEW THING was first introduced, someone heard Susan say, quickly, once, in that first conversation, “No Thank you! I’m not interested!” She followed it up with something like, “we’ve been down this road before, and this feels like another flavor of the month, and I’m not keen on wasting my time on another fruitless exercise!”

And that’s the word that got around.

One response. At one meeting.

Susan, “everyone” knew, was a resistor.

Susan was opposed.

A few desks over, Adam had been so gung-ho for THIS NEW THING in that first meeting that he’d showed up with a big smile, and he’d said, “Yes!” to whatever it was going to take to move THIS NEW THING forward.

And that’s the word that got around.

One response. At one meeting.

Adam, “everyone” knew, was the champion of THIS NEW THING.

A few weeks in, there was a “NO” camp, and a “YES” camp.

Some folks said “NO” because they liked Susan. Other folks were here when the last painful solution came through that made life tough, and they didn’t want to go through it again. And other folks just didn’t like the spin they thought they’d heard that Adam was putting on stuff.

Some folks said “YES” because they liked Adam. Other folks had tried THIS NEW THING somewhere else and thought it was really cool, and they wanted to try it here, too. And some other folks just didn’t like the negative vibe they thought they’d heard that Susan brought to some rooms.

And before too long, the whole organization was divided into “us” and “them”. Just about everyone had picked a side. Ugh.

The reality was, though, that the organizational leadership had decided that THIS NEW THING was a thing we were going to do.

And we needed to figure out how it would work here. And both Susan and Adam were doing just that.

Almost immediately after that first response, Susan started asking more questions to understand what we’re trying to accomplish, why we’re trying to accomplish it, and how we’re going to get from here to there.

She discovered that there are ways to make THIS NEW THING work here in a way that’s different than the other things that didn’t work. If we pull lever A and push handle B and turn the solution 90 degrees to the left, it would work pretty well around here after all.

Susan, became an advocate for THIS NEW THING.

At the same time, Adam realized that the real implementation of THIS NEW THING for his team was going to be more frustrating than he’d first thought. Lever A is super annoying for his team to pull, and it adds an extra step to his process that he wasn’t counting on.

At lunch one day, he found himself not joining in the usual accolades for THIS NEW THING, but instead sitting quietly, reflectively.

Someone at his table pokes a little fun at him, calling him “Negative Ned.”

Adam still sees how this is good for the organization, but there’s a level of hassle and nuisance for his team up front that he wasn’t counting on.

He’s got to figure out how to convince his team not to grumble with pulling lever A on a regular basis now – they’d just gotten out of the lever-pulling business a few months ago!

Adam is still an advocate, but more reluctantly so.

Wait. What?

Did those people just change their minds?

Or did the impression of them change?

Or did the journey of change simply take its natural course?

Or is it some combination of all of that?

How often do we force people to stay in their boxes?

How often do we assume that someone’s opinion at one time is the only one they’re allowed to have, ever?

Wouldn’t it be better if we allowed people the grace and space to learn? If we gave them the opportunity to use new information to adjust their decisions and form new ones?

A growth mindset, a learning mindset – psychological safety if you’re a team – these all point to the truth that new information should allow us to form new perspectives.

“I may have formed an opinion or a perspective on something today based on the data I have available today, but I’m still learning.”

When faced with a change, for many folks, their first response is negative.

But if we stayed in the negative, we’d miss out on the great things that can come from changed opportunities, from new horizons, from accomplishing hard tasks.

Instead, if we allow ourselves to get curious, to ask questions, and to learn, we might find something better on the other side.

Likewise, if we approach a change assuming the whole thing is going to be easy and smooth sailing, we’re setting ourselves up for failure. That’s simply not how it goes. Change creates disruption and loss and confusion and pain for some. And we’ve got to navigate through that.

At any moment, giving in to the negativity will prevent us from moving forward.

At any moment, being naïvely optimistic will prevent us from bringing others along well.

At any moment, refusing to learn will prevent us from becoming better tomorrow than we were yesterday.

At any moment, putting people in boxes is a reductive exercise that doesn’t help us co-create better workdays.

Instead, let’s try this:

1. Recognize that change is a process, not an event. There will be ups and downs, downs and ups, and allow yourself (and others!) the space to experience that variety! 
2. Embrace a learning mindset – use words like “yet” and “still learning” to help remind yourself (and those around you!) that none of us has everything figured out! We’re all still learning, and we’re allowed to change our minds! 
3. Delight in others – instead of labeling people or putting people in boxes or camps where we have to “pick sides” or “choose”, celebrate the diverse perspectives we each bring to the table, and delight in how we can work together to reach the end goal.