Change is Our Companion but NOT Our Friend in Business Management…Ollie the horse is teaching me why:
I am working with a group putting together a business program that may be presented in 2013. One of the discussion points has focused on the conflict in organizations that accompanies most if not all efforts to implement and manage change. It remains fascinating to me that to a person, our colleagues in the veterinary profession speak effusively about the changes we are experiencing and the remarkable rate at which change is happening. Very few believe that their practice does not NEED to change, BUT…change efforts are often met with fierce resistance within the organization.
Since we all appear to be in alignment on the presence and necessity of change, it is odd that so many resist change so strongly. I have been spending a lot of time lately trying to contribute to the program with some bit of understanding as to why this resistance to change is so predictable.
Veterinarians, especially equine practitioners can be a remarkably independent lot. We routinely work alone without immediate access to colleagues or mentors. Our clients expect and even demand that we come up with a plan on the spot, regardless of how serious or bizarre the situation we face. We have learned to trust ourselves and we don’t have a strong fundamental tradition of trusting others.
We assemble management groups, informal groups of peers and hire advisors, all in the effort to change our practices with the objective of becoming more financially successful. We explain and understand our objectives. So far that’s all good. Then train comes off the tracks; we resist the change necessary to achieve the objective.
I was raised around cattle ranching and spent all of my life until a year ago riding quarter horses in western saddles. My hobby changed radically about a year ago when my quarter horse was killed in a strange accident. My unlikely hobby decision was to take up riding in an English saddle and learn to jump. My wife Kathleen found a great horse for me. His name is Ollie. He is an 8 year old Irish Sport Horse and he is an expert at his job. When I tell people about my plan I get a lot of “you’re nuts” looks. Everybody has to have a goal and mine is to learn to jump.
As Kathleen has been giving me jumping lessons she has made it perfectly clear that the business of jumping the fences is divided into Andy’s business and Ollie’s Business. Andy’s business is to point Ollie at the proper jump and to have him going more or less the right speed. Ollie’s business is everything else. I have decided to implement change in my life. I understand the objective and how to achieve it. I need to take care of my business and let Ollie take care of his business.
We started over poles on the ground. I was totally comfortable sticking to my business and then letting Ollie stick to his business. The plan worked wonderfully. Ollie and I each did our part and we made the first successful steps in implementing change, learning to jump.
As the jumps got a little bigger (still small), I began to hear coaching input from Kathleen, “you are in Ollie’s business”. When I am able to stay out of his business we jump the jump! However when I insist on being in Ollie’s business…we don’t jump the jump successfully.
The point of this blog is to explore our resistance to implementing change even when we acknowledge its necessity. My hobby objective is to learn to jump. I hired (actually bought) a well-credentialed jumping consultant with a great track record who really knows his business, Ollie the horse. At critical points in the process of implementing change to reach my objective, I stop letting the expert, Ollie, do his job and I try to do it myself. The results are 100% poor, yet I continue to do it occasionally and even may blame poor Ollie for the results. Why, you ask, would a person with three college degrees refuse to let the expert do his job???
Ollie the horse is teaching me about trust. It’s all about trust. I have been an independent and resourceful person all of my life. With the help of trusted mentors and friends I have solved my problems. In this situation, learning to ride in and English saddle and jump, with potentially severe consequences, I am having trouble trusting Ollie to do his job. I’m stuck here until I can learn to trust that Ollie will do his job. Only then will I will be able reach my objective. I have assembled the resources I need, but until I trust, I can’t make the change necessary to be successful.
Maybe that’s why we resist change. We aren’t used to trusting. Perhaps we should work on trusting instead of changing…change might take care ofitself.
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