Years ago, I was part of a group of up-and-coming civic leaders who were given an assessment known as the Change Style Indicator. For ease of description, the scale on which each person is scored runs from around -66 to +66. Those who score below -13 are “conservers,” people who like tradition and accept change only in incremental doses. There were close to a dozen attorneys in the group and they all scored around -40. Except me. My score was +52. Above +13 is called an “originator.” These are people who thrive on challenging the existing structure and exploring new possibilities. The higher a person is on the scale, the less likely they are to accept any idea or process simply because “that’s how it’s been done in the past.”
For the past two years, my life has been one of constant change. My roles vis-a-vis my family have changed. I’ve changed careers. My friendships have changed. Very little, other than my husband, has remained constant. And you know what? It has been great! Sure there have been ups and downs, but they’ve given me the opportunity to rethink everything, to not accept what has gone before simply because it’s a known. Sometimes it’s been hard but, looking back, those are mostly the times I was trying either to make the changes feel safe to the conservers around me or was allowing them to persuade me that change is bad. I understand where they are coming from but it’s different for me. Change is invigorating. It makes me feel alive. So keep it coming – I love it!