Change Requires Courage
““Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.””
When making change, courage is key because the forces of the status quo are very strong. Some experts assert that as much as 70% of organizational change efforts fail. Patterns of behavior and thought are extremely durable and persistent. It takes time and perseverance to break through.
Given the tenacity of entrenched habits and policies, it’s possible – perhaps even likely – that when trying to make change you’ll fail at least some of the time and to some degree. You might even fail a lot, or constantly. And in doing so, you might lose hope. It’s one reason so many of us look at the problems around us, see the costs of inaction, envision options for improvement, and then when it comes time to act we console ourselves with defeatist talk and cynicism. We know what needs to be done, and yet we still hold back and do nothing.
Failure hurts, even when the stakes are incredibly low. I played for years on a weekend recreational softball team – what could have lower stakes than that? Yet I recall the visceral feelings of dread and anxiety I experienced when it seemed likely that we were about to lose a game. I would feel my chest tighten and my mouth become dry. With our team down and our opponents gloating, I can remember sitting on the bench looking dejectedly at my dirty softball spikes, replaying my last wonky throw across the infield, and fretting deeply about what I’d do in my next at-bat.
It takes courage to acknowledge that you might fail, and to move forward anyway. It takes courage to look into yourself, accept your features and bugs, and still believe you have something unique and valuable to offer. It takes courage to build deep connections with those around you by presenting a truer and more complete version of yourself. It takes courage to put your values and vision on the line, knowing that some people will disagree – and a few may even be disagreeable.
Courage, like almost every desirable attribute, is a skill that can be learned and nurtured. We are all born weak and fearful; any of us can grow to be more powerful and more courageous.
I’ve had to marshal my own courage to write these blog posts. I am afraid readers like you might decide that the “big ideas” I’m writing here are no more than half-baked duds. I’m afraid that by writing it all down and putting it out to the world, you might discover what I fear about myself -- that on some level, I’m a fraud. Yet here we are: I ended up writing this thing, and you’ve ended up reading it. I moved from inaction to action in part by acknowledging my ambivalence and finding ways to manage it.
I’m not presenting a paint-by-numbers program for you to slavishly follow; I’m not expecting readers like you to internalize every idea and then stay inside the lines I’ve drawn for your program of change. Instead, I’m hoping you’ll find a handful of insights throughout these posts that interest and inspire you.
I’m hoping your awareness will be raised here and there, and your energy will be mobilized to think differently, feel differently, or act differently. And then I hope you’ll go out and splatter paint everywhere, creating your own personal masterpiece of change.
