Jonathan Harrison

"People prefer the familiar to the comfortable and the comfortable to the better."

What this means is, as a leader, our role is to make the “better” both “comfortable” and “familiar.” Sounds easy, right?

This proposition takes time and persistence. Given the chance, we all have the tendency to move back to what is comfortable and familiar for us, even when the alternative is truly better.

When thinking about change, one example that immediately floods my mind is…you guessed it! The storage medium for music (what else would I be talking about, honestly?). Think about the progression…let’s start with LP’s…what a great format! Plenty of storage, a beautiful canvas for creating an “album.” I could spend hours staring at some of the beautiful artwork that graced the sleeves of the Moody Blues’ albums…then comes along the cassette tape (I know I skipped over the 8-track, my apologies to all the 8-track lovers).

Cassettes were great – small, portable, you could fast forward and rewind with ease, and you could even take your music with you while jogging! Cassettes also ruled the automotive sound systems. When a commercial came on the radio, just pop a tape in and you were all set! Sure we lost the large artwork and reading the lyrics to the songs required a microscope, but look at what we got in return – the Mix Tape! Young lovers across the world could now share their feelings for each other in song by making a mix tape for each other!

Before we knew it, a new medium was on the scene: the Compact Disc. They even looked like a mini-record, but they offered unrivaled sound quality. You could store 30 of your favorite albums in a wallet only 1 inch thick, and they even worked great in the car! For a while, we were making mix tapes from our CD’s, but it did not take long for the Personal Computer to become a household appliance, bringing with it the ability to “burn” a CD (why do you need a PC for that? Can’t you just use some matches?). Next thing you knew, all of us could create our own CD’s with our own playlists.

So where are we now? Everything seems to be shifting to digital. I guess I am starting to age, but I miss the days of buying a CD or Cassette, smelling the new paper booklet, and following the words while listening to each song, played in the order that the artist indented. Don’t get me wrong, I love MP3’s…I never thought I could have every song in my collection in a device smaller than my cell phone (or wait, is that my phone?), but I guess we all at some point find ourselves resisting change.

But as I become more familiar and comfortable with each change, I find it easier to accept and enjoy what is better about it. I leave you with my final thought on the matter: Change is inevitable, especially if you carry large bills. That kind of change is always good!