I was watching a movie during this last blizzard (here in Maryland, where we now have the dubious record of the most snowfall this season in the U.S.!) and was fascinated by the cultural clues.
There was a scene with Michael Douglas looking at a monstrous computer monitor. Remember when computer monitors took up most of your desk? The movie was Disclosure (based on the book by Michael Crichton).
This got me thinking about change and how long it has been since I had one of those humongous monitors. I looked at the date of the movie and it was 1994. Wow, 16 years!
A lot of things have changed in 16 years. iPods now play our music, computers are smaller than books, books are read on e-readers … you get the idea. The point is that change continues to happen at an accelerating pace and we all need to learn how to deal with it.
Then I came across these suggestions from an unexpected source.
Three keys to dealing with these turbulent times:
- Understand the new (business) landscape.
- Respond with vigor.
- Adjust accordingly.
These were in the remarks from SEC Chair Mary L. Schapiro at a recent conference (thanks to Edith Orenstein at the FEI blog for her post, Climate Change at the SEC). Her speech, titled Embracing the Change, is a great read to understand where the SEC is going under her leadership. She explains some of the learning since the “market meltdown,” tell us what we can expect as the SEC responds to the crisis, and offers some good advice on dealing with change.
I think we all have to become “Navigators of Change” as we deal with this accelerating pace of change.
See our recent post, “How to Change When Change is Hard.”
How do you deal with change? Any advice?