Change Doesn’t Happen on the Sidelines

A few days ago I mentioned a post by Krista Francis on the subject of health care reform.  There was a part of the post that really struck me but I didn’t want to mention it at the time because health care reform is an important topic and deserved  our focus.

What bugged me was the part about silence.

I agree with Krista – there was very little written about health care reform with the exception of “we need it” or the status of the legislation.  I wonder why that is.  Is it because the community doesn’t have an opinion?  Or is it because people don’t want to share their opinions for fear they’re going to piss somebody off? Or have we just been waiting for the legislation to pass so we can complain about it?

Or, are we afraid of being controversial?  Because we might be challenged to get involved.

Now I’m not talking about controversy in terms of whether companies should adopt social media.  Frankly that’s pretty low hanging fruit.  On the controversy scale, it might rank a 1.  Where IMHO, the debate on health care is a 10 (maybe even an 11) on the controversy meter.

In our corporate lives, we tell our employees, “don’t bring us problems; bring solutions.”  And, Krista’s post reminded me that we have to practice what we preach.

People have all sorts of opinions.  About topics (like health care) or changes organizations should make to be successful.  That’s great.  Those ideas need to be heard.  It’s not fair to tell an organization – here’s my idea, go fix your problems and then I’ll support you.  Or even worse, not tell them at all.

Years ago, I sat on a committee within the company where I worked.  In that company, there was one person who would constantly complain about the things this committee did.  How did I handle it?  I asked her to be on the committee!  And lucky for me, she accepted.  I learned from her and (hopefully) she from me.

Got something you want to change?  The best way to impact change is by being an active part of the organization or process needing change.  That might mean doing any of the following:

Also keep in mind, if you’re not willing to roll up your sleeves and help make change happen, it’s possible the change that get’s implemented is the one from the folks who did get involved.  Not the change asked for by the people on the sidelines.

Show an organization you want to change that you’re willing to support them while they make those much needed changes.  Implementing change isn’t easy and it also isn’t quick.  If every person took the path of sitting on the sidelines until things were 100% perfect, positive change would never happen.

This isn’t about health care reform, it’s about creating positive lasting change.

Image courtesy of DerrickT

0
Exit mobile version