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K-State Research and Extension
123 Umberger Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506-3401
785-532-5820
extadmin@ksu.edu

April 30, 2019

On Change

Submitted by Gregg Hadley

Don’t worry. I am not making a major announcement. I just want us to take a minute and think about change. There are some that use the common refrain, “Change is hard.” Some even find change emotionally painful. Belasco and Stayer in the book Flight of the Buffalo (1994) wrote "Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have—and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up."

While we all have different tolerances for change, I believe we can all agree that the ramifications of being stuck in a rut and the threat of obsolescence are far worse. How do we avoid those fates? We avoid those fates through change.

Think back to your worst experience with change. I am sure it was difficult. Nevertheless, you are still here and you probably learned a lot from that change. I know I learned a lot in my worst experience with change. In fact, everything I focused on as an Extension specialist stemmed from my worst experience with a career change.

Now, think about your best experience with change. How did it make you feel? Good? Proud? Accomplished? Moving forward? Successful? We could probably name a hundred or more positive descriptors to describe your feelings about that change.

We all want to be even better at what we do. The only way to improve is to change – either by small tweaks or doing something more significant. With that in mind, I encourage you to think about a small change you have been contemplating in how you engage in your Extension work. Next, I challenge you to do it!

If it doesn’t work, at least you will have had the stimulating excitement of doing something a little different and learned something in the process. On the other hand, if you are successful, the people you serve will benefit and you will have all of those positive feelings we discussed earlier.

Extension professionals are often call agents of change. We carry that moniker because of all the positive change we helped people to undertake in order to improve their lives, livelihoods, and communities. If change had so much of a positive effect on them, just think of what it can do for us as Extension professionals!