CHANGE IS A GOOD THING

Let’s embrace it…

Change is a constant in all our lives. 

Besides death and taxes, it’s the only other thing that we can count on. For certain. 

It’s both motivational speaker Dr Wayne Dyer and Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw’s quotes that sum up “change” in a way that we think speaks volumes – 

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

And

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”.

Change, it would seem, is not only an expected thing, but a good thing too. It drives progress, improvement, and points of view. It’s the catalyst for many instances of goodness, of results, of accomplishments, of discoveries, of overcoming, of winning wars and of thriving. 

Without change – whether it’s an opinion, someone’s mind or conclusion – we would be stuck. Unable to proceed to the next phase. Unable to progress.

Whether we are ready for it or not, change happens. We grow. We age. We learn. We move on. We achieve. And as we do, life progresses. 

And, if you ask us, we would find ourselves in a pretty terrible place – collectively – if change didn’t happen.

Change in all its various guises is a good thing. And we’ll tell you why…

CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

While it’s a debate as to whether change is, in fact, a good thing in the article Debate: Is Change Always a Good Thing?, they set out the following – 

“Change can teach us to adapt and help us develop resilience, but only if we understand our own capacity for growth and learning. When change makes us better, it’s because we have learned how to turn a challenging situation to our own advantage, not merely because change happens”.

And it’s this one point that we think bears repeating – change helps us to develop resilience. It helps us to learn, to change, to improve. To be the best versions of ourselves. Because without it we – life – stagnates. It remains the same. And for many reasons the notion of remaining stagnant and stuck is untenable. 

From a business perspective and in the article Why Is Change Important in an Organization? â€“ 

“The world is changing everyday: the population is changing, customer trends are changing, technology is changing, and the economy is changing. Businesses who fail to embrace change can easily wind up as dinosaurs – out of touch and unable to compete under current trading conditions. Change is important for any organization because, without change, businesses would lose their competitive edge and fail to meet the ever-changing needs of customers”.

The point may now be MOOT, change is a good thing. The problem with change is that people, in general at least, are often slow to embrace it. Not wanting their equilibrium, their status quo to be any different. 

A lot of us resist change opting instead to proceed with caution. But change friends isn’t a luxury. We’re often not given the choice as to whether or not we want to embrace change. Sometimes, all we can do is roll with the punches, electing instead to make the most out of the situation – look on the bright side and all of that. 

Perhaps the best thing to do with change is learn how to embrace the uncertainty that it (often) brings with it in the best way we know how. 

So, let’s take a quick gander at just some of the ways change can be good – both for you as an individual, as well as your business.

CHANGE IS GOOD FOR THE INDIVIDUAL 

Sure, change can be scary – all the uncertainty and unknowns it presents. But with change comes opportunity. Here’s why – 

1.     Change allows us to experience new things â€“ learning new skills can open the door to a myriad of opportunities we would never have considered without taking the bull by the horns and learning something new. New opportunities often lead to experiencing new things. And that there is what life is all about. Experiencing exciting new things.

2.     Change can improve our quality of life â€“ change is often the catalyst of brave new things. Take as an example going out on your own, starting your own legal practice or indeed leaving law altogether and starting a content management company (like The Legal Belletrist). And those decisions to embrace change can result in benefits you couldn’t have imagined – more money, a better work-life blend, freedom. Sky is the limit. And so is the improvement to your quality of life. If you don’t embrace change, these opportunities remain a pie in the sky.

3.     Change encourages the discovery of something new â€“ they always say that â€œchange is as good as a holiday”. You know – get a new haircut or dye your hair a different colour. Paint your walls a different colour, get a plant for your office. Taking a stroll in the fresh air during your lunch break. Or simply changing your routine. Those small little incremental changes that get you out of your daily grind, that get you out of the rut you sometime find yourself in. And small changes like this can lead to bigger changes down the line. And who knows where that may lead? An adventure to an exotic place you never thought you would venture to. If you embrace change, anything is possible.

4.     Change can be healing â€“ there are so many things in our lives that can cause us immense distress. Losing a loved one, moving to a new country, changing jobs. Sure, changing the type of gum you chew won’t speed up the healing process. Only time can do that. But there are changes you can make to your daily life that can help with the healing process. You could take up a new hobby, start a new activity like yoga. Seek professional help. You can get creative and find ways that suit you, that help you and in doing so get you closer to a place of acceptance and healing. 

5.     Change can help you achieve your goals â€“ there’s a big question you should be asking yourself right about now – â€œif I didn’t change how I have done x, y or z, would I be where I am today?”. Now we acknowledge that you may not be exactly where you want to be. But, by changing an aspect of how you do something or how you see something may help you get a little closer to your ultimate goals. Inner change means inner growth. By actively working on improving yourself, you will remain motivated and focused on reaching your goals.  

6.     Change not only gives us hope for the future but it ensures bad times don’t last â€“ finding yourself in a rut can seriously demotivate you, making you feel stuck and unable to move. But knowing that you can correct the situation by making small changes to how you do things, or how you see things, not only reassures you that bad times won’t last forever – because “somethings gotta give”. But there is hope at the end of the tunnel. You have the power to change your current circumstances. So, embrace it – the possibilities of where you could end up are endless. You just need to work at it. 

CHANGE IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS 

Mark Sanborn, author of The Fred Factor: How Passion In Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary has this to say about change in business – 

“Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers, and business“.

Change is not only inevitable in business. But crucial. Remaining the same is a recipe for disaster. Especially in this day and age when everything is moving, progressing, changing at a rapid speed. If you don’t keep up, you become irrelevant. And that is the nail in the coffin of any business that’s struggling.

With that in mind and with reference to the article Why Is Change Important in an Organization?, the following gives all businesses, law firms included, food for thought –

1.     Technology â€“ without change, businesses would still be stuck in the “dark ages”, dictating correspondence to secretaries, editing their words, and sending them back again. A complete waste of time. Change that results from the adoption of new technology is common. While it can be disruptive at first, ultimately the change tends to increase productivity and improve service delivery. Technology has enabled businesses to learn more – more quickly – than ever before.

2.     Customer Needs Are Constantly Evolving â€“ customers expect your business to not only be open 24/7 but available with the swipe of a smartphone. As the world evolves, customer needs change and grow, creating new demand for new types of products and services. This opens up new areas of opportunity for companies to meet those needs. So, businesses need to keep up with evolving needs or risk becoming irrelevant.

3.     The Changing Global Economy â€“ a strong economy and an increase in demand for products and services will mean that companies may need to change how they do business to keep up. Supply and demand are finicky things. When it goes up, a company may need to expand, thereby incurring costs. When it goes down, a company may need to downsize, ultimately affecting their bottom line. But it’s the ability to navigate and adapt to both ends of the supply and demand spectrum that will see a company thrive well into the future. 

4.     Change Means Growth Opportunities â€“ change in the workplace allows employees to learn new skills, explore new opportunities and exercise their creativity in ways that ultimately benefit the organization through new ideas and increased commitment. Preparing employees to deal with these changes involves an analysis of the tools and training required to help them learn new skills. 

5.     Challenging the Status Quo â€“ simply asking the question “Why?” can lead to new ideas and new innovations that can directly impact the bottom line. Organizations benefit from change that results in new ways of looking at customer needs, new ways of delivering customer service, new ways of strengthening customer interactions and new products that might attract new markets. All areas that offer immense opportunity. Change is necessary to be a successful long-term business.

(Sources used and to whom we owe thanks: Chron).

Change is often just the beginning. A chance to re-imagine the impossible. 

So, let’s toast to new beginnings – whatever they may be – may any big changes you make bring about great opportunity. Change – as you can tell – can be such an exciting thing! Change is a good thing. Embrace it.

And if you find yourself in the position looking to change how you operate your law firm – perhaps by incorporating full-stack legal accounting and practice management software – AJS is perfectly poised to assist you. No matter the size of your law firm or your needs, we have a package that can be tailor-made to suit you. 

Get in touch, we would love to help you.

– Written by Alicia Koch on behalf of AJS