The Three Things You Need To Know To Think Clearly About Change
First published on March 17, 2021
To understand change, we need three things. The current state, the desired future state, and the current rate (and therefore direction) of change.
Mostly, the future state isn't really something we can know, it is simply a value judgment of how we think things would be better. Albeit a powerful one. The current state and the rate of change, though, are things you can find out.
Once you know both, you can decide how to proceed. Proceeding without a clear understanding of both is foolhardy: if you're lucky things will go how you want. If you're unlucky, they won't change. If you're really unlucky, you might make things worse.
I used to get lost, frustrated and stalled by only focusing on the current state and its deficit from the potential future state I wanted. Seeing the differential, I would lose heart and stop. One of the things that really changed for me was celebrating the rate of change, celebrating the progress I was making. Noticing those things helped me see that change was happening, which helped me keep up my morale and commitment to seeing things through.
I used to give up, too, when the rate of change seemed too small. In fact, I almost didn't believe in the rate of change. I used to believe that things came naturally to people if they had talent. So if I wasn't good at a computer game or at playing the violin, I just gave up. Now, I know, of course, that almost everything is about practice. Really. Almost everything, including almost certainly that thing you think is about talent.
Measuring things that affected the rate of change was a game changer for me. Knowing how many hours I've coached, how many articles I've written, how many weekly pieces of wisdom of David Gemmell have been emailed out. And then continuing that practice, not stopping it.
But this isn't just a problem for someone seeking to change their life. It's a consideration - perhaps even more importantly - for people seeking to change a society. People of different political persuasions seem to have a high regard for the current state OR the rate of change (including, for example, today compared to 10 years ago) but rarely both.
Like with anything, over-reliance on one thing can be dangerous.
If we ONLY pay attention to progress, noticing how much better something is than it used to be, then we may become complacent, not seeing the problems that the world faces today. I certainly have a bias towards noticing that the world is basically better for almost everyone than it was, say, 100 years ago (or 50 years ago or, mostly, 10 years ago). That means I rarely carry the same emotional energy or passion for change that some of my friends and colleagues do.
But, if we ONLY pay attention to how things are now, and the places we are unsatisfied, then we risk missing out on how change is actually happening, and lose some of our ability to be effective. If we are really unlucky, we may even make things worse while trying to make things better. And, we may put energy into things which will change anyway without our help, neglecting the things where the rate of change is nonexistent or is taking us away from the future we really desire for the world.
In your life, find the way to understand not just how things are, and not just where you want to be, but to understand the change that is happening, right now and day by day.
In the world, try to hold at least those two perspectives: 'How are things today?' And, 'What direction are they currently moving?' Not just this year, but over the decades and centuries?
We need to understand all three: current situation, desired future state and current rate of change, before we decide how to proceed with skill and wisdom.