Naturally this means I’ve been looking at everything through an inefficiency standpoint.  What is wasteful?  What adds time and uselessness to my life?  What detracts value?

Trendnet does.  You see I bought a wireless internet card from them (which I love).  But it came with a rebate.  Now I understand the whole purpose of the rebate is to get you to not spend it.  That’s why it’s difficult to mail in the rebate, why it takes so long to get a rebate back.

I’ve sent in many rebates over the years but this is the first time I’ve ever received a debit card back.  That’s right they sent me a credit card instead of a check.  Why?  Because it will reduce the chance I’m going to use it.  It also means I need to spend that money instead of saving it.  In short it’s a con.

It’s also wasteful.  I am, by no means, an environmentalist.  But I can’t stand wasting things.  Now I’m forced to use a little piece of plastic that will sit in a landfill for the next 300,000 years.  All so I can spend my $8.68.

When you work with clients or students, don’t waste their time.  Don’t create a model of waste juts because it benefits you.  If the only way you can make money is by creating waste, maybe it’s time you rethink your business model.  Because at some point, people will become fed up with your wasteful ways, and stop going to you.

photo provided by flickr user net_efekt

The real problem with greasing the squeaky wheel is that we’re destroying our chances of creating change.

Whenever we create change, we’re going to produce a lot of squeaky wheels.  People aren’t going to want to change.  They might like the old systems.  Or maybe they are in charge of the old processes.  So they will complain.

If we cater our change to them, change will never happen.

Of course this goes against what your boss might be telling you.  Or maybe even what your client wants.  But you have to ask yourself the question: are you more committed to making a change?  Or more committed to not hearing people complain?

photo by flickr user ninjapoodles

We don’t fear change.

We fear failure.

This is why we don’t pursue our dreams.  This is why we don’t bring meaning to work.  If we did, we might not succeed.  Maybe our dream job would turn out to be a disaster.  It’s not that we fear the change to our dreams – it’s that we fear failing at our dreams.

For a long time I rebelled against ideas like “mission statements” or “culture calendars”.  But over the years I have seen just how useful these tools can be if used properly.

There was one organization in particular that made me re-evaluate my thinking.  This organization has a culture calendar that says, “If you haven’t failed in the last 30 days, you’re not trying.”

When you read that what does it tell you about that organization?

It tells me that they are about growth.

That it’s an organization that doesn’t fear failure – they embrace it as a key part of learning.  And you know what?  It pays off.  It’s the most innovative organization I’ve ever worked with.  With a staff of around 100 people they manage a multi-million dollar budget.  Organize events on multiple continents.  Provide an infrastructure to handle tens of thousands of items for emergency relief aid.  While continuing their main mission of providing core training for thousands of people on a weekly basis.

And oh yeah, that organization happens to be a church.

Don’t let people tell you that you fear change, because that’s not the real problem.  It never was.  The real problem is fearing failure.  If you focus on growing instead of always being perfect you’ll be amazed at where you can go.

photo provided by flickr user Xerones

But I must concede, not everyone seems to like stability.  Take, for instance, Scott Cassell who likes to swim with ravenously hungry squid.

While most of us want something safe and controlled, there are some people who seek out true adventure and danger.  These people appeal to us.  We dream about a life as exciting as theirs as we do our grocery shopping or take the car in to get it’s oil changed.

Even our entertainment is filled with excitement.  Star Wars wouldn’t have been much of a movie if Luke had decided he really wanted to stay home and farm.  Die Hard wouldn’t have become the movie it was if Bruce Willis had decided he didn’t really need the trouble of investigating the crime – he was off duty after all.

If we crave stability, why do we seek out these adventure stories?

I believe it’s because we know we are made for more than the mundane.  Yes.  We seek stability.  Yes.  We try to create a world that’s completely safe.  But what if we were never meant to live that way?  What if instead of seeking out adventure, we were supposed to seek out life?  How would your life look?  How would you look?

What if you made choices based on adventure and your potential, then playing it safe?

photo provided by flickr

“Wait a second,” you may be thinking, “I want excitement in my life.  I don’t want it to be boring.”

Unless you’re name is Evel Knievel, I doubt that very much.  Don’t get me wrong, we love the illusion of danger and excitement – that’s why roller coasters are so popular.  But we don’t really want true danger.  If we did, why can’t we walk outside without SPF 50 sunscreen?  Why are we worried about eating non-organic food?

We want excitement as long as its highly controlled and completely safe.

As a society we’ve worked hard to build this cocoon of “safety.”  We wear seat belts and helmets.  We avoid caffeine, fat, and cholesterol.  We live in air conditioned houses.  Travel to work in heated cars.  Sit on padded chairs.  All very safe things to do.  And very smart things.  I personally love air conditioning.

The problem is, we’ve confused safety with living, and freedom with the status quo.  Somewhere along the way we started believing that as long as you go through the motions nothing needs to change.  We’ve adopted the philosophy of “don’t rock the boat.”

Yet the reality is our lives are filled with change.  Every day something changes.  We just don’t notice it.  This is why we wake up one day and think “when did my hair get so gray?” or  “How did I gain this much weight?”  All of that didn’t happen over night, it took time.  That’s the Myth of Stability at work.

Change is part of the human condition.

1.  Tsunami in Indonesia – No one had any idea what was about to happen.  But before many knew it, walls of 100 ft waves were crashing down on their cities.

2.  Bubonic plague – 4 out of every 10 people died within 3 years.  Can you imagine if 40% of your city’s population died?

3.  Dinosaur Extinction – These massive creatures ruled the earth for a hundred million years.  Yet now we can barely even imagine their size and power.  All gone due to a cataclysmic event, with barely a trace.

No one was expecting any of these things.  And you probably aren’t expecting change to happen in your life.  But I guarantee that change is right around the corner.  Will it be an illness?  A death in the family?  A lost job?  A promotion?  Winning the lottery?  A new baby?

I know this seems counter-intuitive.  But trust me when I say there is no such thing as stability.  It’s a myth.  Even as I write this we are in the midst of a recession.  It’s so bad that some people are suggesting we may never get out of it.  And if we do the most pessimistic guesses say a full recover won’t be for 10 or 15 years.  Ironically it wasn’t too long ago that people were claiming an economic collapse would never happen.

But all recessions end in one way or another.  Because stability (good or bad) is a myth.

The reason I write all of this isn’t to stress you out.  Or to make you nervous.  There’s enough fear in the world as it is.  Instead, it’s to let you know meaning doesn’t come from what you do, it comes from who you are.

Unfortunately most of us believe we can get our meaning from our work, our families, or even our possessions.  Yet all of those things are temporary.  All of those things can break or disappear.  Because that’s the nature of the world we live in.

photo provided by flickr

Not even championship games.

Being a huge Steelers fan I loved their SuperBowl run this year.  I watched dozens of hours worth of pre-game shows.  I read any article that mentioned the Steelers.  Frankly I loved every minute of it.  Even the game was intense.  Some have said the Steelers victory over the Cardinals was an all time classic.  Don Banks of Sports Illustrated even described it as “the best Super Bowl in history“.

Despite the accolades and endless pre-game material, the broadcast was over moments after the game ended.

All this fanfare.  And then it was gone.  This year’s Stanley Cup Finals were even worse.  The series ended on Friday and by Monday I found very few news stories discussing the Penguins victory over the Red Wings.

That’s how it is though.  Today’s big thing is tomorrow’s old news.

Now this isn’t all bad.  It actually encourages risk taking.  It encourages you to be revolutionary.  If you screw up today, by tomorrow no one remembers.  There is freedom in that.  Can you imagine if you made one mistake and it was held against you for the rest of your career?  Perhaps some of you work in environments like that.  If I asked you to describe the culture of your organization, my guess is I would hear words like “rigid”, “hierarchical”, and “top-down.”

Rapid change has a way of destroying rigid structures and of toppling hierarchies.

Of course there is one big draw back to living with rapid change.  Your success doesn’t last.  There is always someone innovating.  Always someone moving forward.  Someone growing.  If you stand still too long, you’ll simply be passed by.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we live in a world of rapid change.  And that means we are faced with a choice.  Do we use that change to our advantage?  Or do we become tomorrow’s old news?

image courtesy of flickr