Who Am I & What Am I Doing Here?
(i.e., Where Do I Get Off Writing This Blog?)
Up to this point, I’ve been pretty private about who I am, what I do, and what it is that makes me think I have any business writing a blog on personal and organizational change. I’ve begun to realize that holding back on some of these things isn’t serving me, and it certainly isn’t serving you – the reader. After all, if you don’t know anything about the person writing this blog, how can you possibly decide if you should believe anything I write?
We all know that there are many, many blogs floating around on the web written by people who have no idea what they’re talking about. I’d like to think that this blog is not one of them, and I hope by sharing some things about me you’ll agree.
What Do I Do?
At the present time I am employed as a staff researcher at mid-sized public university in the Upper Midwest. I work at a small institute within that university that serves the nonprofit and public sectors. The majority of my work involves collaborating with nonprofit and government organizations and helping them find ways to do their work better. I also teach occasionally, but I am not a faculty member and I don’t aspire to be one. I have a Masters Degree in Public Administration with a specialization in nonprofit management.
I’ve been in my current position for nearly 4 years, and I’ve learned a lot about organizations and the people who work within them during that time. Here are just a few of the key lessons I’ve taken from my professional experience:
- The most valuable help you can give someone is helping them ask the right question. Nearly everyone I talk to comes into a project thinking that they know what they need. They are almost universally wrong. This happens because people start coming up with answers before they’ve thought about their question(s). I would estimate that 90% of the success or failure of a project is directly related to the questions that were asked at the beginning of that project.
- Most people suck at being objective about their own situations. That’s why they hire me and my colleagues! Seriously, most people lack the ability to remove themselves from their present situation and study an issue objectively. They need an outside perspective to help them see what is really going on.
- Change is often much more threatening than continuing to live in your own mess. Many organizations are filled with redundancy, ineffectiveness and tunnel vision. They are missing opportunities to grow their businesses – which in the case of nonprofits usually involves helping more people who really need help – simply because they continue to do things “the way we’ve always done them.” So often just a small change of direction can make an organization twice as effective, but if there are too many unknowns it will never happen. The unknown is just too frightening.
How Did I Get Interested In This Stuff?
If you want the full story of my lifelong interest in change processes, you can read my mini-autobiography, which I posted several months ago. Part 1. Part 2.
If you don’t have that kind of free time, I can summarize by saying that I once worked for a small nonprofit that went through 2 mergers in 2 years. At the same time I had to deal with some issues that I was having with anxiety and panic attacks. I learned the hard way that this change stuff can really #%&$ with your head! After I started graduate school I began to study change management as well as lots of self-improvement/personal development material. The connections became obvious and I began to develop a lot of the ideas behind this blog. A few summers ago I taught a graduate seminar on change management, and that gave me the final push I needed to start the site.
Does This Make Me Qualified to Write About Change?
Ultimately only you, the reader, can decide that. I can say that I’ve been studying change from one lens or another for about 12 years now. Unless you’re a professional change management consultant, I probably know more about this subject than you do. I certainly don’t know everything and I’m happy to admit when I don’t know what I’m talking about, or when an idea is just a hypothesis that hasn’t been tested in the real world yet. If that is good enough, then I hope you’ll keep reading.
Now It’s Your Turn to Share
As this blog continues to develop, I would really like to know what problems you are experiencing that are related to change. It can be on a personal level, in your organization, or the obstacle you keep encountering that keeps you from saving the world. If you are willing to share your frustrations with me, I will do my very best to help you resolve them and hopefully help others. I will always respect your privacy. Here are all the ways you can contact me:
- Email: maria (at) neverthesamerivertwice (dot) com
- Stumbleupon
- Friendfeed
- Digg
- Utterli
If you want to let it all hand out, you can also leave your question in the comments. I hope to hear from you soon.
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Well, I have an amazing circle of friends who help me process change in my life, but your 3 key lessons really hit home with me, especially #1.
As an Elder in the Presbyterian church, I repeatedly see very passionate people enter into projects without asking enough questions. They just have a vision for what they want to accomplish and jump in.
Inevitably at some point, usually after some key people burn-out, they finally start to ask some questions.
Let me just add that sub-item a. of that lesson is to make sure you REALLY answer the question! Too often, we settle for the answer that “sounds good”, rather than the one that is honest and complete.
My belief is that no one is more qualified than the other. You write and share according to your experience. Each reader may “judge” differently what you have to say. Some will probably resonate well or better than others. It will be the group that resonates well who will come to you for their questions.
Thanks for revealing more about yourself! It’s nice to get to know who the blogger is behind a site.
@Evelyn – thank you for the thoughtful comment. It’s true that we all have experiences in our areas of interest, but with so many charlatans operating on the web, I think it’s important that we explain where we get our knowledge and perspectives from.
@Mike – yes, asking the right question is just the first step. Answering it properly is a whole ‘nother ballgame! That’s what I try to do here, but the reader is the ultimate judge of the effectiveness.
All 3 of the lessons you present here are invaluable, but #3 especially is true of many people.
It’s hard to try to instigate change, in your private, professional, or relationship life. It may seem easier to just wallow in what you have/do now than take a look at what you can be doing or saying or BEING differently.
Lots of people get stuck there, and it can be particularly difficult to change if those around you seem opposed to the changes you wish to begin. And people do fight change, even positive change, not only in themselves, but also in those around them. As well, overcoming self doubts about your ability to change in the first place can be a challenge for many people.
As for your qualifications for writing this blog, you have many, many more than anyone I know or read. I learn something every time I look at your site.