The Hardest Part of ‘Change’ is NOT What You Think
We all know that change is the only thing that stays the same. We also know that change is often frustrating and painful. In addition, most of us have come to grips with the fact that change never happens as fast or as slow as we would prefer.
Be that as it may, the frustrating, painful, and unexpected part of change is not the hard part. Instead, this non-obvious hard part of change came to me while listening to one of my new favorite podcast.
A RUDIS Wrestling Podcast: The Way Episode #11
This Podcast is called The Way and is hosted by Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan. During this particular episode the entire discussion was about change. However, at the 12:30 minute mark Cary Kolat tells a story that turned into this “aha moment” for me.
The story was about how a team of wrestlers he was coaching made a change to their summer training routine. This change called for an extremely hard training program all summer. However, when the season came later that year they flopped. Their first competition was a disaster. At that point the team was at an early season cross-roads, thinking negative about how their hard work didn’t pay-off.
Kolat states at the conclusion of his story:
You have to know when to make a change, when it’s right to adjust course, and when you have to stay on course.
Co-host Matt Dernlan then astutely chimes in and says:
It’s easy to pick out the things that aren’t going right. But when you really break it down to your guys, that’s really the most obvious thing. You know when things aren’t working right. So it’s easy to get negative on yourself and it’s easy as a coach to jump in and point out the things you’re not doing….
But really one of the things you got to be cognizant of is reinforcing the positive things that are going on even if you are not getting the outcomes…
You have to be adaptable, but you have to know when to hold the line.
Knowing when to Change Course or Stay The Course
The moral of the story is that not all change is equal. Some change is about stopping the bleeding. It’s easy to know when this change is working because the bleeding either stops or it doesn’t.
Other change is about growth and development. This is when things can often look as clear as mud. You could be doing all the right things and not getting any results. In these situations, knowing when to adjust course or stay the course is the hard part. Results could just be a matter of time.
There is no secret sauce or rule of thumb to follow in these situations. Often, the best course of action is to allow a third party coach, mentor, or experienced advisor guide your next step.