Change is constant. We keep hearing that. Lately, my coaching conversations have been dominated by that subject. Ken Blanchard wrote the book, “Who moved my cheese?”. Today, it seems our “cheese” is getting swept away by a cyclone.
What is most important? Our thinking…our attitude. If this makes you feel any better, even the champions struggle with attitude amidst change, setbacks, problems, and crises. General Colin Powell, in his book “My American Life”, talked about 13 rules he lived by. Here were the first two:
1. It ain’t as bad as you think. Things will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad, then get over it!
Ok, so we have our attitude back on track. Next, use the “go forward” questions developed by Willis Carrier (The Air Conditioning guy) at the beginning of the 20th century:
What is the worst that can happen?
Be willing to accept the worst
Now that the worst has been accepted…try to improve on it
I remember in my classroom days how effective working through these questions can be. Give them a try, and when you do, expect good things to happen when you have embraced and leveraged the changes and problems you are facing.
