Some Thoughts on Change
by John Eisenhauer, Communications V.P.

It’s been said that “the only constant is change”. In fact, if it seems like the world is constantly changing, it’s because it is! Change is hard for us humans. Change gets to the core of our need for security and our need for growth. On the one hand, we want to hold on to the familiar and on the other we’re attracted to what is new and exciting.

Deciding as individuals how to react to change, as all of you know from your own experience, is very challenging. Multiply that challenge a number of times and you’ll come close to what it’s like for an organization to contemplate change. All those same conflicts are magnified. Do we really know how it will turn out? Have we covered all the bases? What are we leaving behind? What if we made a mistake? Can we go back? What if we don’t change? How will we know?

The truth is that as individuals we can never really answer all of these questions. Nor can we as an organization. All we can do is make the best choice at the time based on what we know and hope for the best. The more we’ve researched the pros and cons and the more feedback we’ve gotten that leads us in a direction, the better we can feel about a decision. But, often it’s the “leap of faith” that finally pushes us over the edge. Faith that no matter what, this is the right thing to do now.

I wish more of you could have observed the Board at our Spring meeting in Bend. Most of the hard questions about whether or not we should hire a full time employee to manage our education, certification and training programs had already been asked. Many of the questions had already been answered. Watching the Board as a group move toward the “leap of faith” was one of the most fascinating experiences I’ve had in my years as a Board member.

As stewards of the organization we are charged with managing our affairs responsibly. That’s a charge that the Board takes very seriously. I think that what finally allowed this group to move beyond our need for security was the realization that we simply could not answer every question. If we were to grow as an organization, we would need to take a calculated risk. We would need to trust that we’d done our homework and that the likelihood of success outweighed the possibility of failure. And so, based on that trust, the board unanimously approved the new full time Education Program Director position. Applause and high five’s broke out - we’d moved toward something new and exciting. Some Thoughts on Change by John Eisenhauer, Communications V.P. I had a teacher in junior high school who always spent the better part of each class outlining what we would do not only that day, but the next day and the next and so forth throughout the week. Problem was, we never actually got to all of those things, partly because he spent so much time explaining what we would do! Even as a teenager, I recognized he had no credibility with his class. I’m sure many of you have experienced that same phenomenon in the corporate world. Companies seem to love to tell you all about new programs that will be bigger and better, but the reality never lives up to the hype.

I believe we are avoiding those traps of getting stuck in process or over promising results. We are confident that there is a structure in place that will allow this person to succeed. We think we’ve identified in concrete terms what we expect this person to help us accomplish. We are realistic enough to know that the hard work is just beginning. We are aware that it will take some time. We pledge to keep you posted on our progress and we look forward to the time when our high five’s celebrate the growth that we all seek.