“Turn and face the strange…ch-ch-ch-changes…”
– Lyric from Changes by David Bowie (1947 – 2016)
Change. It is possible I’ve written on this topic before, as in yesterday. It’s entirely possible I’ve written on this topic a few hundred times, and done speaking gigs on it at least a hundred more.
Change is the most constant theme if we’re A) alive and B) in business.
Doubting me? Consider the elements of fear and pain in this one. Shake-and-bake our way around the corner with this one. OK, if you’re more into 13th-century Persian poets, Gandhi or 1980’s one-hit wonders, there’s this one.
The most-quoted source in The Daily Diff is my dad, Dick Heston. The only other player who’s even on the leader board is Wichita’s finest, Dr. Tom Graff, who made an indelible mark on me with this one: “Change will only occur when the fear of change is overcome by the pain of remaining the same.”
Change is about seeing where / who / what we really are, and having a clear vision of where / who / what we want to be and executing toward that end state.
Executing on what?
Ideas.
Ideas are the currency of difference makers. Ideas are the currency of legacy leavers. Ideas are the currency that buys us our upgrade from coach class on a budget airline to First Class on Emirates. Ideas fuel, fund and create meaningful, purposeful, impactful change. Sadly, in our risk-averse culture, ideas tend to come more quickly when the pain of remaining the same becomes unbearable. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Before it hurts that bad, let’s turn and face the strange. Let’s foster ideas by inviting them into our daily routine. Let’s suggest crazy crap in the face of stubborn problems. Let’s play “What If…” and “Why Not?” games. Let’s take calculated risks, honoring the gift of our intuition and instincts. Let’s keep a can of Play-Doh on our desks if that’s what it takes to remind us that we used to make cool things out of a little can of flour, water, and food-coloring before some job, manager or culture came and sucked all the creativity out of us.
If we’re alive and in business, ideas are our ticket to being more alive, and better in business.
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