“Where Did Everything Go?” - #Blog365 Day 47

Sometimes things seem to be amiss.

We arrive somewhere, or come in contact with someone/something, and there seems to be something that is off.

This happened to me yesterday at our local supermarket. I guess they are looking to move some of the sections around in the store, and in so doing, it became impossible (well, close to impossible, anyway) to find what I needed.

I walked around aimlessly for a bit, and then found one item. In the case of another, I simply said, “Forget it” and gave up. I could have asked for assistance, but a number of staff members looked as confused as I was; that happens too, sometimes.

It is always good to make change and change things up. But, without the proper support, those changes can have tremendously negative effects on the work we do and how we do it.

We can relate this to our work in our schools and districts too. While nobody likes change, it sits less well when change happens without anybody knowing, and/or without it being gradual, or supported. I have no doubt that the length of shopping time has been on the increase for everybody at the store since they started moving things around, and with time as the ultimate constraint, forcing people to take more time to complete a task can be problematic, especially when people aren’t ready for it.

What could the store have done differently? The same types of things we should be doing when we want to make massive change in our lives. Here are three:

·         Provide a heads-up, and make sure people are aware of what the changes are going to be, when they are going to happen, and what is going to be the process.

·         Have additional staff members present who are aware of the changes and who can provide support, when needed.

·         Make it gradual. Better to change over a longer period of time slowly than attempt to do too much, too fast.

I have to make a quick run back to the supermarket today. Hopefully, like when encountering change in the other facets of our lives, I’ll be comfortable, happy, and able to effectively get things done!