Musings at Altitude

As we were getting ready for bed last night, my wife turned up the thermostat from 69 to 71 degrees, because we didn’t want the grandbaby to be cold at night.  That subtle change made it uncomfortably warm in some parts of the house and yet the perfect temperature in the baby’s room.  I thought about that when I woke up this morning because I was tossing and turning all night, taking the comforter off, then taking the sheet off, trying to adjust to the change in temperature.

When I got up this morning and went into the shower, I turned the knob to the typically perfect position for the water temperature that I like, and I found myself turning it just a little bit further toward hot and it got too hot and then back a little bit towards cold and it got too cold.  Each subtle change in the knob caused enough change in the way it felt on my skin that it became uncomfortable.

As we drove to the airport this morning, the traffic was flowing so perfectly (if you worry about getting there on time) till we hit the Castle Pines on ramp just South of Denver.  At that on ramp, a stream of cars were entering the 75 mph speedway, and with each car entering, brakes were being applied and the whole stream of cars were slowing down at least 30 mph. 

In each of these cases, very subtle changes in temperature or volume resulted in very uncomfortable results.  I’m finding that’s the same in business.  I like changing things.  I like getting better even when things may be very good.  I like finding more revenue even when revenue growth is extreme.  I like bringing new people in to change the way things are being done or things are being thought.  I just like change.

But most folks don’t like change.  Most folks understandably like things to be consistent.  They like things to be done in similar ways so that they can be comfortable with the path and the approach.  For those folks that get uncomfortable with change, little changes to the organization or the process or the approach can create great concern and distinctly adverse affects on behavior and sometimes performance. 

As a business leader, I’m learning that I need to think forward and think through how those tweaks and subtle changes will affect all those in our organization.  In the past, I forced change and accepted the affects of that change, confidently believing it was best for the organization.  Today, although I still believe change is good (we are in fact changing all the time whether we want to or not), I fully realize that change affects different people and different organizations in very different ways – sometimes in very adverse ways.  Change is still needed, so I won’t stop encouraging and driving change.  But change with a full understanding of how it affects the organization will be much more meaningful, much more rewarding, and much less painful.

PS.  Just to revisit the change in house temperature last night.  I woke up after a night of tossing and turning with a bit of a scowl on my face.  I just couldn’t get comfortable.  But the one for who the temperature change was made woke up in a very different mood.  That 2 degree shift in temperature was obviously a really good thing!