Change Sucks. Deal With it. (A Motivational Speaker Learns the Hard Way)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Change Sucks.  Deal with it.

As a business speaker, one of the most frequent calls I get from perspective clients is, “Can you talk to us about change?  Our folks are having a tough time.”

So are we all.

Recently I was reminded how HARD change can be, and I gotta say it was a little humbling.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/Ge3lw4a4WCE”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I have ALWAYS had some sort of technology that I use to play music and sound effects during my speeches.  It’s super cool, it adds a lot to the presentation, and it’s really a pain in the butt to learn.  The first time I got a technology, about 25 years ago, it took me at least a year to learn.  And maybe 5 years to master.

It’s not that complicated, but because I’m doing other things when I run it, it’s more difficult than

you think.  It’s easy to program wrong.  It’s easy to use wrong.  And it’s easy to forget some simple but crucial detail, spiraling my whole program into a messy pile of goop.  It ain’t rocket science, but it’s harder than it first appears.

So what’s new?  I just bought myself a new and improved technology.  It does the same thing I’ve always done — play music at my command — but it’s better than my older thing.  The problem is that I’m not used to it.  I make mistakes.  I have to re-learn the commands as they are different from the old ones, and programming it is not that hard, but because I’m used to the old way it SEEMS pretty hard.  It’s a pain in the butt.

I was whining to my wife about my problems and frustrations learning the new technology and she hit hard with a simple question:  “Why don’t you use some of the wisdom you tell your audiences, Mr. Motivational Speaker?”    Crap.  She got me.

She was right:  I was totally wasting my energy griping about change management.  I should heed my own advice.  What is it, you ask?  Glad you asked. Here it is in a nutshell.

• Change happens.  We can whine or not, but it happens.  Might as well try to go with it.  Fighting makes it worse.

• Change is good for our business.  If we don’t keep up with new trends and technologies, we eventually put ourselves OUT of work.  Reminding ourselves that change is a positive for us helps us to take it in stride.

• Change is good for our happiness.  When we get too used to stuff, we tend to stagnate.  Seeking new activities that challenge us keeps us in good mental shape.  Yeah, it is frustrating and difficult sometimes.  But oddly, those challenges are good for our long-term well being.

What Does ThIs Mean for You?   The next time you find yourself whining at the new software, the new IOs on your phone, or some new process at work, you have a choice.  You can whine and complain, or you

can try deal with it in a more positive way.  Don’t be like me and my new music technology.  Be brave.  Be strong.  Be gracious.

Shout out to my wife Kim for being smarter than I am.

What do you think?  How do YOU deal with change?

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Brad Montgomery is a very funny motivational speaker on change.  Approximately 99% of his client are struggling with some aspect of change, and he has some pretty funny ways to help business people get through change management with grace, with skill, and with a sense of humor.  If you’d like to talk to us about how Brad can help your team get to where they need to be, give us a call or contact us immediately for a free consultation about how we can do just that.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]