Managing to Make a Difference

Chapter 62Embrace Uncertainty, Be Confident, Instill Hope

The pace of change is accelerating. In today's world, managing change is not something you have to do sometimes. You have to do it every day.

Lesson

“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”

—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The invention and widespread use of antibiotics created superbugs. The invention of the Internet and mobile devices has created privacy and security issues. At the time of this writing, the widespread availability of sophisticated drones is creating a new set of problems. You can likely cite several additional examples.

As you resolve current problems at work, new ones arise. You might anticipate some of these and proactively create strategies to deal with them. But progress is precarious because it always gives birth to unexpected consequences. The immense complexity of the world prevents you from anticipating all the new problems you will face.

So if you are making progress, you are creating new problems, which require new solutions, which create new problems. This is a relentless cycle.

A rational argument for change, a business case, provides justification, but it does not create the energy necessary to move forward. Rational arguments should be put forth, but expecting people to act rationally is folly because our decisions and actions are heavily influenced by emotions, cognitive biases (one of which is the negative bias), and ...