{"id":4799,"date":"2017-02-13T11:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/change-academy\/?p=4799"},"modified":"2017-02-08T10:46:27","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T10:46:27","slug":"the-need-for-speed-change-need-not-be-a-slow-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/change-academy\/2017\/02\/13\/the-need-for-speed-change-need-not-be-a-slow-business\/","title":{"rendered":"The Need for Speed : change need not be a slow business"},"content":{"rendered":"

An earlier version of this was first posted on 13th February 2012<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Chan\"\"<\/a>ge is very often considered to be a slow and often difficult process. In particular, ‘culture change’ is seen as a long and winding road. Human beings are notable as creatures that have mastered\u00a0 (or, at least, have developed) the art of adapting. We have changed our knowledge, decisions, behaviour, environment, relationships, societies. It is too easy to think that we ‘don’t like change’. This is simply not the case<\/a>. We are beings that not only adapt to what is around us, but we often actively choose<\/em> to change\u00a0what is around us. After all, it is not uncommon for us to seek to find ways to make things better or different (either for ourselves or, sometimes, others!).<\/p>\n

My great-grandfather (who was still around when I was a youngster) was born into the Victorian age in the 1880s. He was already a young man when the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk, yet lived to experience flying in jet airliners and even saw the Apollo astronauts land on the moon. His life experiences, work and education had to adapt fairly radically, but I imagine it was a fairly natural process – that’s life.<\/p>\n

Organisations can change faster that society as a whole. Whilst\u00a0change should be seen as a ‘natural’ process, it is one which we should actively influence ourselves. Change can occur\u00a0in noticeable timescales; weeks and months not years. Changes should move into\u00a0short timescales to become noticeable, rather than at barely-observable ‘glacial’ rates. Herrero (2006) goes further, suggesting that if cultural changes cannot be observed in short time-frames, then something is wrong.<\/p>\n