Watering Mud
“Patience, persistence and preparation make an unbeatable combination for success.” — Napoleon Hill
One fall in Pennsylvania a couple of years ago, I was working hard in my yard to bring together a few unfinished projects in my flower beds. I’d started and abandoned a few ideas and plantings due to weather or boredom (not sure which) and thought it was time to get back to them and at least try to get the beds (and whatever plantings were worth saving) prepped for spring.
One particular flower bed was a patchwork of failed foliage and impressive, but straggly-looking plants I barely even remember planting. So upon reflection, I decided to rip it all out and start over again. I tore it down to the roots — literally — and dropped in a variety of bulbs and root plants, such as tulips, hosta and coleus, so I could patiently wait until next year to see the true fruits of my labor.
As I finished up and stood over my patch of flower garden, hosing it down one final time, my husband stopped and asked, “Why are you watering mud?”
It was a logical question. And certainly, made me keenly aware that sometimes we have to patiently tend to things that won’t bloom for a long time.
Such is the story of change management.
In all my years as a change management practitioner, I still feel I have a long way to go to get it right. But the sprouts of ideas and experience keep popping up and give me more and more confidence that with each year, watering the mud will produce flowers in the spring — getting others to understand the patience required for that is sometimes the harder job.
Change management efforts aren’t always visible, which can frustrate or even discourage leadership, but applied change management activities are always working just under the surface. Improving communication, finding new opportunities for breaking down the barriers that seemingly grow overnight between people and departments, and helping people be informed and empowered are all parts of the change management role, yet are not always obvious.
So, if you wonder what it is a change manager does, you should ask one — especially when she’s watering mud.
As for my flower bed, things started to pop and bud and break through the surface and most — but not all — look like they made it through the winter. Spring weather in Pennsylvania can be unpredictable, so some of the tulips and daffodils looked good while others, like the day lilies and coleus, seem like they might be struggling a bit. I tried to help them along, but in the end, sometimes too much rain, too cool temperatures, or any number of other elements I can’t control, will impact the success of some plantings more than others. And similar to change management efforts, some will win, some will lose, some will be slow to start, while others will take off with little more than a bit of daylight. I suppose I’ll need to see how they do as the days grow longer and everything grow stronger. In the end, I just do the best I can — readying myself to water mud in the fall again the next year.
It’s always a win when I don’t have to.
For more information on Change Management, check out this article or course on Workday.
Written by: Austin Kirkbride, Solution Principal
