Change is Chaotic…eat a S’more

Each year during our beach vacation, we pick a night to have a bonfire, and every year we get more and more prepared without really seeing any real change in the outcome. Do you ever have that happen at work or at home? Here’s our story:

The year we started this tradition was absolute chaos.  We didn’t know how to dig a pit and we certainly didn’t have enough things to burn (public service announcement - seaweed is not a good fire starter), but at the end of the night we were all having fun hanging out, eating s’mores, and singing along to the radio.

The next year we brought old newspapers with us and made a point to collect “wood” throughout the week. It was still chaos digging the pit at dusk, we didn’t have enough flashlights, and we dropped several sticky marshmallow skewers in the sand, but at the end of the night we were all having fun hanging out, eating s’mores, and singing along to the radio.

Years later, we “have it all figured out”…we know where to buy a pack firewood near our beach house, we save cardboard during the week to act as a fire starter and even reserve our bacon grease to ensure an instant fire (it isn’t super safe, but it is super effective). And yet, we still start each bonfire with chaos. The kids get too close, the smoke blows towards someone who then needs to rearrange all the seating, my grandmother (she’s in her 90s) forgets how to walk in the sand at night, and there is an overall impatience to have it “just right” immediately, but at the end of the night we are all having fun hanging out, eating s’mores, and singing along to the radio.

It’s funny that no matter how much we prepare, the beginning of our bonfire is always filled with chaos (and me wondering why we go through it each year) and the end result is smiles, laughter, and memories.

In work, just like life, there is only so much you can prepare for when it comes to change management. No matter how many people are included in the preparation, how much notice you give the team, or how great the future will be after the change, there is something about the physical act of change that creates chaos.

Just like the bonfire, you can either endure the chaos and push through or you can let the beginning of the change define your success at the end. I suggest you do what I do, let the chaos run its course and then sit back, eat a s’more, and know that it is all part of the plan.