“Change will only occur when the fear of change is overcome by the pain of remaining the same.”
– Dr. Tom Graf, PhD
Einstein is widely quoted as saying that one definition for insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. I’ve quoted him often in that context.
It might be kind of harsh, though.
Maybe it’s just fear of change. Human nature is to dislike anything that feels different, that evokes a different biological and psychological outcome than we’ve come to expect based upon experience.
Experience.
Hmmmmmm, now there’s a word that most often gets used in a positive context, right?
“She’s a very experienced negotiator,” or “He’s a very experienced studio musician.” I mean those are good things, right? Right? I mean, they are, aren’t they?
What if the context matters more? What if our experience is masking our pain?
How valuable is experience when we’re seeking a different kind of transaction, or a different sound in the studio?
It’s valuable only if we keep it in context.
Maybe the deal isn’t insane, maybe it just needs to be structured differently. Maybe the client isn’t insane, maybe we’ve just done a crappy job of helping them understand the change. Maybe the department head isn’t insane, maybe we’ve just done a crappy job of helping them understand the market change, or the cultural change or the change in the stakes.
Maybe the change is incumbent upon us overcoming our experience, so that we can help those around us overcome theirs.
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