Saturday, June 09, 2007
Change is stressful. Admit it, deal with it, and move on.
How are you presenting new ideas and new services to your staff? If they sense that you are not interested in a certain thing (or are apprehensive about it) they will probably feel the same way. If you are change-averse, then I can guarantee your staff is probably the same way.
I recently overheard a library director say, about a new service being provided by the state library, “Yeah, well, I showed this to my employees and got less than enthusiastic responses.” Hmm. Exactly how did she present it? I wondered. Her tone when making her comment to me made it clear that she didn't have much use for this new service, even though it was probably a service that some of her patrons would be interested in. So was she able to conceal her contempt for the service when she presented it to her staff? There’s a big difference between saying “This is an interesting new service being provided by the state library, I think we should look into it, who would be interested in doing this” and “Ugh, the state library is at it again, here’s another half-baked idea they have come up with. Does anyone feel like dealing with this? I know I don't want to.”
Here's a reality check, folks. I have met very few people who actually enjoy the process of change. It's messy and it's painful, and it makes us feel out-of-control, but it is necessary. As supervisors, we need to overcome our dread of change enough so that we can present new service possibilities to our staff and co-workers as opportunities instead of albatrosses.
Change is going to happen whether we want it to or not. Do you want to waste your time yelling about how unfair it is, how you shouldn't have to change, how libraries used to be venerated by all and didn't have to prove our value to anyone, how things were working perfectly until the world came along and ruined things for us by changing? Do you think the world really gives a damn what we think? It will move along quite happily without us, if necessary.
But: if you can take some deep breaths and calm your fears about change long enough to think straight, and if you can look at your situation (and your library's position in its community) clearly, maybe you can see one or two things that you can do to steer change instead of always feeling out of control on a roller-coaster of change that you can do nothing about. As one librarian colleague said to me yesterday, "be proactive, not reactive."
Change or die, people. You don't have to like it, but you'd better get good at dealing with it, and at helping your staff deal with it, effectively. Because if your staff knows you are uncomfortable with (or even fear) change, they're going to have no reason not to feel the same way, and then you'll be dead in the water. Got it? Good. Get to it, then. :) ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 2:03 PM
I recently overheard a library director say, about a new service being provided by the state library, “Yeah, well, I showed this to my employees and got less than enthusiastic responses.” Hmm. Exactly how did she present it? I wondered. Her tone when making her comment to me made it clear that she didn't have much use for this new service, even though it was probably a service that some of her patrons would be interested in. So was she able to conceal her contempt for the service when she presented it to her staff? There’s a big difference between saying “This is an interesting new service being provided by the state library, I think we should look into it, who would be interested in doing this” and “Ugh, the state library is at it again, here’s another half-baked idea they have come up with. Does anyone feel like dealing with this? I know I don't want to.”
Here's a reality check, folks. I have met very few people who actually enjoy the process of change. It's messy and it's painful, and it makes us feel out-of-control, but it is necessary. As supervisors, we need to overcome our dread of change enough so that we can present new service possibilities to our staff and co-workers as opportunities instead of albatrosses.
Change is going to happen whether we want it to or not. Do you want to waste your time yelling about how unfair it is, how you shouldn't have to change, how libraries used to be venerated by all and didn't have to prove our value to anyone, how things were working perfectly until the world came along and ruined things for us by changing? Do you think the world really gives a damn what we think? It will move along quite happily without us, if necessary.
But: if you can take some deep breaths and calm your fears about change long enough to think straight, and if you can look at your situation (and your library's position in its community) clearly, maybe you can see one or two things that you can do to steer change instead of always feeling out of control on a roller-coaster of change that you can do nothing about. As one librarian colleague said to me yesterday, "be proactive, not reactive."
Change or die, people. You don't have to like it, but you'd better get good at dealing with it, and at helping your staff deal with it, effectively. Because if your staff knows you are uncomfortable with (or even fear) change, they're going to have no reason not to feel the same way, and then you'll be dead in the water. Got it? Good. Get to it, then. :) ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 2:03 PM
