It’s not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.
Charles Darwin
1809 – 1882
Recently, I was talking with an associate about a new program he’s developing for his market. He expressed doubts about whether he’d successfully determined all the content that needs to be in the program. He was truly worried that he doesn’t know everything he needs to know.
While I understood his concern, I explained that he was actually in a very healthy position. I went on to tell him that most people approach a situation like his from the opposite viewpoint. The majority of those trying to teach a new concept embark on it with total confidence; they believe they know exactly what the student needs to learn.
In my opinion, this approach is filled with problems. When you’re convinced you know what others need, you run the risk of delivering incorrect, incomplete or outdated information.
I explained that as long as he was uncertain about what to include, he would be open to discovering new and better methods. To my mind, that’s how we need to approach all things in life: with a bit of curiosity and a questioning intellect, asking, is there a better way? What other avenues are available? What could be done differently? We need to be open to new, diverse approaches to life.
So often, the things we do in our business and personal lives don’t yield the results we want or expect. Yet we hold on to the way we’ve always done things. We’re not open to anything new.
It all comes back to our beliefs. If we believe we already know what should be done, we won’t be open to doing things differently. But unless we do things differently, our results won’t change.
Even the casual observer of society understands that change is occurring with blinding speed. Everything around us is changing. Yet for the most part, we’re uncomfortable with change. We resist. Our beliefs tell us that we’re safer doing things the way we always have.
If you’re going to adapt to our changing world, you must open your mind to new, different and better approaches to business, relationships and life. The belief that you already know what should be done will keep you stuck in the past.
Moving forward in our rapidly changing world means that you won’t always have a well defined path to travel. There will be times when you struggle in the dark. As long as you’re open and flexible, you can adapt. The more you hold on to your fixed belief system, the more difficult it will be to learn and grow.
If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts;
but if he will begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.
Francis Bacon
1561 – 1626
Copyright © 2009 John Chancellor