I Want The Old Facebook Back…Because I Don’t Like Change!

Like you…I’ve had my share of invitations to join groups like this one and this one to bring the old Facebook back.

The response to change is pretty constant. Anytime change occurs in any organization there is always (and will always be) three groups of people. There are those that hate the change, those that love the change, and those that don’t really have a preference about the change taking place. The size of each group usually depends on the size of the change. The larger the change, usually means the larger the group of change haters. Why? Because people generally don’t embrace change unless death is the only other option. In fact, the reason most organizations die is because they wait until they are on their death bed before they implement a needed change. Their body is not healthy enough to deal with the major change…It’s too much stress on an already weak body. The body can’t handle the stress and it dies. The best time to make a change is when you are healthy, not when you are sick and about to die! However, when you make a change when you are healthy, be ready…because that’s when you will also hear the most criticism. Why? Because when people don’t see the need to change, they usually fight it.  How many times have you heard, “if it ain’t broke…don’t try to fix it.” What they are really saying is, “I don’t see the need for change.” I like to say, “If it ain’t broke…it probably will be soon.”

The smartest leaders are willing to face the criticism now in order to stay healthy in the long run. They do their best at showing the reasons why the change is needed now NOT later! And they anticipate some noise along the way. My guess is that facebook calculated the risk of not changing vs. changing and decided that the risk was worth the pain of the criticism that they were going to face. My guess is that they are willing to put up with the “noise” to stay fresh and ahead of their competition and to stay healthy in the world of social networking.

For those that want the old facebook back…it ain’t gonna happen…so you might as well embrace it and get ready to brace yourself for the next change.

I promise…six months from now you won’t even remember the old facebook and you will be starting a new group like…”I Want My Old Church Back.” or whatever other difficult change that is taking place in your life.

Remember…Life is built upon change.