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When is the time to embrace change?
It's been a few weeks since I posted an article here on Oxymoron. Vineeta and I have been busy working on the biggest change at Wholegrain Digital for many years. After more than 16 years running the business as a husband and wife duo, we've stepped aside and handed the baton to our new Managing Director, Chris Lewis. It's a big change, but it didn’t happen overnight.
One of the things that I’ve found fascinating over the years is seeing how our business has behaved much more like an organism than a machine. It’s grown and evolved organically over the years, initially formed and carried by us, to gradually grow its own legs and form it’s own mind. While this latest change may appear like a sudden switch, like we have swapped out the CPU in the computer, it is actually part of a more gradual cycle of change that has been underway for some time.
I wrote earlier this year about aligning the rhythms of business more closely with the cycles of nature, but this current process of change has taught me how important it is to also tune in to the unique rhythm of each individual organism, whether that be ourselves, other people, or the organisations that we lead. Whether it be the small rhythms thoughout the day or the cycles that span many years, everything is in flux and there are times when certain things just need to happen.
The concept of change can sometimes seem contradictory to the concept of sustainability though. The word sustainability can often give the false illusion that we are trying to keep everything the same and sustain the status quo indefinitely. In truth, it’s closer to the opposite. Sustainability is about constantly challenging the status quo in pursuit of something better. Nothing in nature stands still and true sustainability facilitates a continuous process of healthy change.
The problem is that change is difficult and it’s no secret that people tend to be resistant to change. Change means uncertainty and uncertainty makes us feel uncomfortable and anxious. Yet it cannot be avoided. Time waits for no one, and change will come whether we like it or not. So the choice is not whether things change, but whether we embrace it or resist it. This might seem fatalistic but only when we embrace the forces of change do we have the opportunity to steer the path through that change toward a positive destination. Our greatest opportunity for progress comes when we swim with the wave, not against it.
It’s not easy though. Even when we embrace change, it can involve considerable personal struggle as we let go of things that we love and make space for the new to blossom. For Vineeta and I, the change that we announced publicly this week follows more than a year of wrestling with our inner resistance and working on our selves so that we are able to give Wholegrain what it needs. The company still has a huge amount of untapped potential and we want to see it fly. In doing so, we hope that we can deliver more positive impact, for our clients, for our team and for society.
I have wondered whether we should have done this sooner, but looking back I think that the stars aligned exactly when they were supposed to. Now that we’re finally here, it feels exciting to be at the beginning of a new cycle and to wonder about the possibilities that may lie ahead. Vineeta and I will still be here at Wholegrain, playing a part in this new era but in different roles. If all goes well, I’ll have more time to deep dive interesting topics and write about them here on Oxymoron.
I’ll wrap up this week by asking you, are there forces of change that you have been resisting lately, and what might the opportunities be if you were to overcome the inner struggle and go with it?