“That’s the way we’ve always done it.”

Have. you ever said these words? My strong sense is that we’ve at least been told that - or heard one of it’s cousins….

• “We’ve never done that.”

• “We’ve never done it that way before.”

• “It’s just always been the way we do it.”

So here’s my thing whenever I hear this. “That may be an accurate statement, but it’s rarely a good response to a question.”

We bump into it all the time and let me qualify this… it is often pretty doggone innocent. It’s not blatant stubbornness or resistance to change. It’s inertia!

Clearly, we do bump into people with a fixed mindset and resistant to new ideas, new ways of working. Some of us (me included) have a drive for process and precision. We don’t like people coming in and introducing noise into the steady-state we’ve created. Yet, it’s vital that we have change agents and that we pay attention to them.

I was with a client last week and got an introduction into pond aeration - and I pretty much nerded out on it. I was pretty sure I needed one of these systems and I don’t even have a pond! The short version is that without a system that pumps air into the bottom of a pond creating circulation, the stagnant water becomes a bacteria-filled, murky, slimy pit that doesn’t support healthy life. As leaders, we must recognize that our organizations are vulnerable to this same reality. But wait! There’s hope!

Change is happening all around us at every increasing velocity. In some ways, all we have to do is pay attention, be curious, ask questions, and listen to those that may have something that we can learn and benefit from. Better yet, if we can identify the people with the natural drive toward innovation, design in systems where we disrupt ourselves and give them even just a little bit of air, we can be on the driving part of change with strategic advantage, rather than simply living in response mode.

So let’s pay attention, let’s be open and find out what’s possible.