November 1, 2023 – Approximate Read Time: ~3 minutes
Image by jackmac34 from Pixabay
Our preference for well-worn jeans is a decent metaphor for how we feel about change. We do not prefer to change any more than we prefer to wear new jeans instead of old jeans.
You know how it goes, just as our old jeans are getting REALLY comfortable, it is time to get new ones. We put it off as long as we can, sometimes until we get that gigantic tear in a seam that just can’t be fixed properly. Then we finally go buy new. To avoid the stiff, nastiness of new jeans, we look for jeans that have been pre-washed, pre-worn, pre-torn, or otherwise intentionally “aged.”
When it comes to jeans, we’re with you – well-worn, comfortable jeans are always our preference. We get it. Change is rarely welcome or easy for individuals or groups, even though change is inevitable and unavoidable. If we are living, we are changing; if we stop changing, we are no longer relevant and we may even be…well, you know.
At Tenacious Change we have created The Resilience Practice Mix™ to help our clients understand what is needed to prepare for change and manage change once it is underway.
Essential to preparing for and managing change is resilience. In a previous post we highlighted this definition of resilience as the one we prefer:
The ability to anticipate, prepare for, and respond and adapt to incremental change and sudden disruptions.
— Denyer, D. (2017). Organizational Resilience: A summary of academic evidence, business insights and new thinking. BSI and Cranfield School of Management.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a deeper dive into what The Resilience Practice Mix means for nonprofit organizations, voluntary groups, businesses, and communities. In addition, we’ll describe what we offer at Tenacious Change to help them become more resilient in the face of change. While nothing completely takes away all the discomfort of change, much can be done to help groups be prepared for it, manage it more effectively, and even thrive in the midst of it.
Next week we’ll focus on what it means to engage in the practice of Looking Back and how we can help.
There is, however, a factor that underlies, supports, and even surrounds every one of the practices. It is the abundance and strength of authentic relationships. A core value of Tenacious Change is this: Anything of importance that is accomplished by individuals or groups is built upon authentic relationships. That’s why we have emphasized these words, which have been the cornerstone of our consultancy with each of our clients and partners:
Creating a Change Movement is an introduction to the Tenacious Change Approach. It is designed to:
- Shift key mindsets about community, organizational, and system change.
- Introduce the principles and core tasks of creating an ownership-based change movement.
- Improve and strengthen the current practice of people who are already engaged in community, organization, or system change work.
- Establish a common language and understanding of key ideas and concepts for change makers who want to go deeper by enrolling in a team or organizational learning experience with Tenacious Change.
This is a 4-hour video-based course that includes 10 lessons and a downloadable, fillable journal to capture key ideas from the lessons. The reduced anniversary price is $160, a $235 savings over original price.
We’ve moved to substack!
On December 31 we’ll be closing our MailChimp account and distributing the Change It Up! with Tenacious Change newsletter exclusively on Substack. Through that date you’ll receive our newsletter both via MailChimp and Substack. If you wish to stop receiving the newsletter via MailChimp, just click on the “Unsubscribe” link at the end of this email.
Season 1, Episode 3 is now live! It is titled Barriers, Bears, and Gummy Bears – for reasons that will become apparent as you listen to it or watch it on YouTube.
In each episode, Lamar and Tom carve out a Third Space where everything can be on the table for open, straightforward, honest, and, yet kind and respectful, inquiry. Getting to Third Space with Lamar & Tom is now available on four podcast platforms: Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube Podcasts (if you want to watch them do the podcast).
We hope you’ll listen in or watch, offer comments and suggestions, share links with your friends and colleagues. Thank you in advance for doing that!
