Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
'Turn and face the strange changes...Just gonna have to be a different man' - David Bowie
Oh, that poor, overused song. I know I'm adding more overuse, but perhaps that overuse is warranted - how many songs so directly talk about change? And can be so easily quoted?
I suppose a hallmark of corporate work is change. Anyone who has worked in a corporate setting, and particularly a high-tech corporate setting, knows this. Change in your manager, change in your focus, change in what you do, change in leadership, change, change, change. It's going on here at Sun as usual, and lately, in addition to Sun changes, I seem to be hearing a lot about changes for some of my professional colleagues too - downsizing, shifts in focus, leadership changes, etc.
Some changes in our lives are welcome - or at least less painful than what we typically associate with 'change'. For example, getting rid of that ugly nightstand that I've unconsciously disliked for a long time - that's 'good' change. Getting some new music that I just totally love. Realizing that the love for my wife and daughter has grown deeper, even just over the last few months. These I tend to think of as 'good' changes, so, in a way, I don't even think about them being change at all (which also leads me to realize that, in my mind, change = pain, bad, etc.).
In speaking with library and information students over the last year, I ask them to think not about the roles they might play in the future as much as the skills they can bring to any role they might take on. In other words, it's not about being a 'librarian" or being an 'information specialist' or whatever other role one might eventually have - though these roles are important, obviously. Part of what makes one agile and adaptable to change is being able to think broadly and flexibly about what one does, or what one could possibly do. And, to me, thinking about my skills rather than my 'job' or 'role' opens up all kinds of possibilities to me that I might never see if I'm just looking for a role or a job.
Let me put it another way using an example - a search example, as it turns out. Say I have a Monster job search set up for 'librarian' and 'library' or even 'information specialist' or 'knowledge manager'. I know I'll get listings of the jobs that have these words in their titles and descriptions.
But what about the job or position that is NOT labeled this way, but still is a great fit with the skills that I have - skills like excellent communication, the ability to problem-solve, critical thinking, the ability to find information, the ability to analyze and synthesize that information, building relationships across groups? Hell, those are critical skills for almost every job that's out there. Yet you, as a 'librarian', have all of those skills, and a host of others that you bring with your previous experience and interests. And those skills, my friend, make you a pretty hot package, now that you're thinking about your skills in a different way.
The key to working with change - when it comes, not if - is being able to think about yourself differently, and this is one way to do it. Are you willing to change yourself and to challenge yourself when change comes? Can you find opportunities to stretch yourself, your capabilities and your skills?
Of course you can.
We all adapt to our circumstances, in one way or another, and get ready for the next change. Change is ultimately about acceptance of the change, and, in some way, changing ourselves.
Often times change seems to happen to us. But in any change, the personal choice and power comes in what you do with that change.
You can choose to not accept the change - and that choice will be extremely hard on you and on everyone around you. This is also known as resistance.
Sometimes all you need to do is accept the change - those are usually the easy changes, the 'good' ones that I mentioned earlier.
But once you accept the change - no matter your feelings, thoughts or perceptions about the change - then there open up endless possibilities in what you can do in relation to that change.
To come back to David Bowie, there are indeed some strange changes going on, and I'm gonna have to be a different man. As I embrace those changes, and as I see anew how I can change myself, well, there's nothing but possibility and opportunity out there.
