Change Agents make things happen for the better. Any situation they are in, they look around, looking for a way to make things run smoother, be cooler, neater, crisper, more efficient, effective, cleaner. Change Agents can’t help it. They see a better way and they want to make it happen. We owe most of the good things in life to Change Agents, stubbornly unwilling to accept the status quo.
The world needs more Change Agents, dedicated to making the world a better place. The good news is that everyone has a bit of the Change Agent in them; who hasn’t wished for a better way? At the most elemental level, Change Agents accept the need for change, actively communicate and support the need for change, defending change initiative against nay-sayers. This is important because change is often experimental in nature and “learning failures” are part of the process. Above all Change Agents are coachable and role model the change they seek; encouraging others to be coachable, to embrace the vision, to learn anew, adapt and grow.
The most effective Change Agents take time to learn deeply, acquiring the wide base of knowledge necessary to skillfully bring about change. If it were easy, it would’ve already been done. To think effectively outside the box, you must first understand why the box was created. Usually there were originally good reason(s), just frequently no longer applicable, in whole or in part. One must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath and give too much ammo to the all too stalwart defenders of the status quo. The best Change Agents are a fascinating blend of Passion and Patient Persistence; it frequently takes many iterations before a truly elegant solution is finally crafted and fully adopted.
Closing Quotes:
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy, 1917- November 22, 1963
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama b. 1961
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950
“If it is not one of the Ten Commandments or it’s not in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, then it’s ok to challenge it, change it.” – NSC
As always, I share what I most want/need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier
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