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The Three Stages of Change . . . #1 is Kicking & Screaming

By Wista Waldroop, Oklahoma

At an LLLI Conference about ten years ago, I was talking with the woman who was then the LLLI Executive Director. She was under fire from many Leaders for some new ideas she was introducing to LLL (which are now common practice). I asked her how she could stand all the controversy and turmoil. She just smiled and said that she had learned a long time ago that there are three stages people go through regarding change.

1. When they first hear it, they hate it because it is new. They don’t understand it. It’s "dumb and stupid" and they are not going to do it!

2. Then they begin to learn about it, explore how it might work, talk about with others, and see that there are good things about it.

3. Next thing you know, it’s their idea!!!

I laughed with her, then immediately realized she could have been talking about me! I have been in LLL for about 30 years, and every change we have made has had me kicking and screaming about it before I did the research and embraced the idea as my own.

I remember well the time when the Area Coordinator of Leaders (ACL) was the ‘head’ of the Area; every other department (except LAD) had to go to her for “approval” of everything including job searches, appointments and orientation, article editing, etc.  I had been ACL under that system and it worked for me, so of course there was nothing wrong with it!

I was a Regional Administrator (supporting about five ACLs working this way) when the idea of a “team management” system was brought up; the ACL would no longer be the head of the Area but rather would be part of an equal management team. How on earth was that ever going to work? I thought it was the dumbest idea I had ever heard and immediately sent off an angry fax (this was long before email) to my support person (who was at a meeting discussing this concept).

She did not reply back in anger. She knew that I needed time to absorb the idea, think about it, look into it more closely, and reflect even more about it. Well sure enough, the more I looked into it,  thought and learned about the merits, the more I began to love the idea! Pretty soon, it was indeed my idea, and I enthusiastically promoted it to the ACLs.  Most of you who are reading this article have never worked under the old "ACL-head-of-everything" system and can’t imagine how it ever worked in the first place! You probably think that old way is “the dumbest idea you ever heard . . .” You are proof that the team management idea did indeed work and still continues to do so.

By now, all of you have had a chance to read the LLLI Board of Directors’ new policies about Areas, Area Networks and working by agreements. Some of you are still in the ‘kicking and screaming’ stage about these policies – a stage with which I am very familiar! However, please take the time to study the policies, ask questions of those who can provide answers, learn all you can, talk with Leaders in your Area, and really think about what they can mean for you and your Area. If LLLI BOD members or USWD staff members live in your Area, please call or email them to clarify the polices for you. They can speak to you as individuals or come to speak to any size gathering of Leaders. Attend TEAM08 this summer if at all possible. Nothing takes the place of face-to-face time to further understanding of new ideas!

Have you ever heard of the 0-3-11 rule?

• When a person hears something she is just “OK” with, she tends to keep it to herself and not pass it along to anyone else.

• When a person loves something and whole-heartedly agrees with it, she shares it with just three others.

• When a person hears something she does not agree with, she shares it with 11 people, who pass the unrest along to 11 others, and so on.

That’s why, when something new and different comes along and it is way out of a Leader’s comfort zone, and she does not understand or like it at first, we hear a lot of negative sharing about it. Those 11 people are very vocal as they keep passing it along. But there are Leaders who are OK with the idea, and there are Leaders who already love the new policies and are exploring ways to share and use them. They are just not as vocal and are not passing their enthusiasm along to as many people. I want to encourage you to do all you can to understand what the new polices really can mean for you and then to pass the news along to other Leaders.

One last personal example about change: I was the last USWD Staff member to get a computer. I didn’t want one, saw no merits in owning one, thought email was a stupid way to communicate, and was sure computers were a fad that would go away. Well, here I am, ten years later, with a Dell computer at home that does everything but make hot tea, two computers at work (a PC and a Mini-Mac), dreams of a laptop so I can be connected anytime and any place, and an impatience with the phone company to hurry up and install DSL out here in the country!!! So be careful what you say you will never do, ‘cause sometimes you have to eat those words!!