Change is such a simple word but such a complex process to implement successfully!

There are no end of change experts around who will give you their '7 Steps' or '8 drivers' of '10 blockers and ways of addressing them' - but for each of us, the context of change is different and the strategies we employ to effect positive change must be customised to the needs, concerns and goals of our specific situation. 

Progress is impossible without change. 

And change is a complex, multi faceted and gnarly beast.

It is important to decide whether the change we plan is of the first order (gentle, substitutive, unthreatening) or incorporates a fundamental alteration of how we do things - 2nd order change. Either way, we know it's going to get messy...and perhaps we need to be aware and reflective enough to understand that blending of both - 1st and 2nd order - might be the way to go. If everything we plan is of the 2nd order, then we will all feel confused, fearful, uncomfortable and the push-back could be phenomenal.

I'm a student of change - someone whose life has been full of it (I'm told that often) and so it makes me who I am: as an army brat, I've lived in 5 different Australian cities, in 3 countries, went to 9 schools and attended 5 universities to complete 4 different courses pre and post grad. My Mum proudly tells people she moved 22 times during my father's celebrated army career. When some people hear this, they look at me pityingly....or with an understanding that exudes "well, that explains a lot":).

These changes not only taught me how to mimic an accent pretty damn quick and to assimilate to a new group's social mores promptly in order to survive...they also instilled in me a comfort with (and perhaps solace in) the beauty of shifting sands. I became an intellectual nomad - too easily bored, always keen to find out more, see what resonated, test it out. Teaching in the classroom, I would epxlore new ideas with my students not just because this engaged and empowered them, but because it was the elixir of my own professional life. Now as a consultant, similar motivations exist. However, what I also know (after all, change without reflection and self-awareness is doomed to failure) is that I need to be a better finisher, I need to see the program, the idea, the recommendation through to its conclusion - it's no longer just enough to have a good idea and put it out there. I need to understand and develop and implement the most effective strategy for seeing it through. I wonder what this tells me about myself now....

Ah well, it's all part of the learning!

Mandela said that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

I look forward to keeping on learning and honing that weapon.