It was about three decades ago, and I was attending a conference of the World Business Forum, that year held in Chicago. One of the most engaging speakers was Dr. Margaret Wheatley, and she was provocative enough that at the end of the conference I picked up her latest book at that time, “Leadership and the New Science.” It was a tougher read for me, at least initially, as she drew heavily upon what felt like heady concepts such as chaos theory and fractal science to make the case for how leadership and organizations could model their structures and performance on some of the foundational principles of science and nature. Her ideas and recommendations are, by the way, still highly relevant today, making that now aging book still well worth a read.

But it was her insights on change that have remained part of my view of the world for the last 30-plus years. It’s likely that we have all heard someone say something to the effect that “change is difficult, change is hard for everyone.” Some even assert that change is one of the most demanding challenges we face as humans. Wheatley says hogwash to that. We’re just seeing it the wrong way, through the wrong lens, from the wrong perspective. Wheatley makes the scientifically irrefutable case that change is one of the most central and positive attributes of all living organisms, including human beings. She says change is essential to the survival of any species. Throughout evolutionary history, only organisms that have been able to change and adapt have survived. Those that don’t change become extinct. That’s the irrefutable part. And its rationale is what is most fascinating.
Living organisms change in response to self-interest, they adapt because it is good for them, in fact essential to their self-preservation, their survival. Change, for living organisms, is not a wrenching, reluctant process, but in reality, a movement to what is attractive and positive and life-sustaining. Organisms change because it is good for them, because it enables their survival. Living things change readily because it delivers something that is in their best interest.
So why is there a prevailing perception that change for human beings is difficult, troublesome, even unattractive? Wheatley says it’s because we forget the part about self-interest. We seem to approach change with too much focus on what we’re leaving behind and not enough attention on what will be better for us if we embrace change. If we can manage to pay attention to the benefits of change, we will find it far easier, a lesser challenge, an asset even.
And when it comes to asking others to change, the same is true. Too often we are stuck in that outdated parenting attitude, “because I said so, that’s why” instead of motivating change in others by making clear the benefits of a specific change, the self-interest component that makes change powerful and desirable. An example: instead of mandating a return-to-the-office for your workforce, instead invite your people to experience a setting where they would find it in their best interest and the most attractive option to return to spending time in the company workplace. That’s an approach to change that would be welcome.
As both individuals and as organizations, it is time to embrace change as a force for good, instead of an unattractive challenge to be conquered. This demands a mindset shift, for we have all labored for too long beneath the attitudinal assumption that change is difficult and troublesome. It’s time to see change as an attractive opportunity, a growth potential waiting to be tapped, a superpower strength for both surviving and thriving. Let’s consider for a moment this powerful force that is change from a trio of perspectives.
As individuals we have can shift our personal mindset, our outlook on change. Especially at this transition point of a new year, it’s an opportune moment to examine our attitudes toward change in our individual lives, personal and professional. Start by pondering the ways you have viewed and experienced change in the past. How can you shift those outlooks on change? What are the ways you can see change as an opportunity instead of a hurdle? It will begin by being honest about self-interest, seeking change that enriches your life and work, embracing opportunities to leave behind what is not going to make you better. It won’t be instant; embracing change is an evolving skill, a continually emerging new mindset.
As organizational entities, large or small, enterprises or simply departments and teams, there is a foundational starting place for leveraging the power of change: to recognize and accept that organizations do not control change, but only that they can enable change. This is a fundamental truth. Any organization can implement policies or take action that require change for the enterprise, but change will not simply occur by mandate or edict or declaration. Every policy or mandate must be rooted in the self-interest, in the well-being of the people who you are trying to motivate to change. Change will happen only when the desired outcome is good for the people you want to change. Otherwise, it’s just coercion, not a good foundation for any organization.
Finally, as an industry, as the collective group that is centered on the workplace, on using place to leverage individual and group success, we have too often been dragged kicking and screaming toward any significant changes in our industry. Think only of the consternation around manufacturers moving their showrooms outside theMART or the disruption of some new players in the industry exploring distribution options outside the traditional dealer network. And anyone dare to talk about the prevailing irrationality of list price and overall pricing models? Contrast our industry attitudes and actions surrounding change with, for example, the technology sector. Technology companies thrive on change, using it as an engine of growth and revenue expansion. They leverage change as a driver of their strategic direction. Those that don’t disappear, right? We could make a list.
It’s now 2025. It’s time for a new viewpoint on change, a moment to reconceptualize the way we see change itself, and especially the multiple and varied ways we strive to instigate and motivate change in ourselves, our organizations, and our industry.