Change sucks! Nothing is going to be the same again! The world as I know it is ending! … all thoughts that have flashed through my mind at various points in my life. Change is draining; I think I have life all sorted out and then something happens to knock me off course.
When my glass is half empty, this is how I feel. I’ve lost control. Change is owning me. My life is being dictated to me by others and by circumstances beyond my control. It’s debilitating and paralysing.
All pretty negative stuff.
Thankfully, these feelings and thoughts don’t last too long, even in the face of quite dramatic change. I’m not going to pretend I have all the answers, but what I have come to realise over the course of my life and career is that change is an inevitability. I have a choice: I can embrace it and either drive it or roll with it, or I can sit back and let it happen to me.
I’ve tried each of these strategies (and I appreciate that even with the most positive of mindsets you can’t control everything) but I much prefer taking charge of a situation so I jump at any opportunity to get involved with new things that can have a positive impact on my life.
From a business perspective this more positive philosophy is evidenced every day in companies that we all recognise as industry and sector leaders across the globe. Whilst I loathe the phrase, why do we set so much store in being able to ‘pivot’ in the face of a changing business landscape, financial conditions or customer need? Because, being adaptable is acknowledged as a huge strength that can unlock new opportunity and success even in the most challenging of commercial environments.
Why do we talk of the next ‘disruptor’ in our particular industry with so much reverence? Because we all understand that, far from this being a negative influence, this dramatic change will be something positive that will ultimately lead to new, significant and exhilarating opportunities.
It is the catalyst for potentially huge growth and those who actively seek out this type of positive change quickly take on and evolve these new initiatives and concepts ensuring their businesses thrive.
This might all seem a bit deep for a Tech Talk column, but if you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that new technology is changing both our work and personal lives at a phenomenal pace. So, we need to take a bit of time to establish what that means for us as people, because ultimately, technology is here to enhance our lives – not to make them meaningless.
Our worlds are changing, jobs are changing, and new opportunities and challenges present themselves every day. We all need to decide what that means for us. Do we control the narrative of our own lives and businesses, or do we let the narrative control us or try to resist the inevitable?
So, whilst I have blatantly stolen an R.E.M. song title for my headline, partly because I have very fond memories of it, it’s also because the sentiment behind it is as true today as it was back in 1987. Life moves so fast, the world as we know it ends every single day in some way, shape or form. But tomorrow (and for the next few billion years at least) the sun will rise and a world full of new opportunity will present itself … and I’ll feel fine. Will you?
Related: Do you understand the value of the data you hold? Do you? Seriously?
