Competence

Scott McLeod quotes Seth Godin this week:
“Competent people resist change. Why? Because change threatens to make them less competent. And competent people like being competent. That’s who they are, and sometimes that’s all they’ve got. No wonder they’re not in a hurry to rock the boat. . . . In the face of change, the competent are helpless.
It doesn’t take a lot of time to change … to reinvent … or to redesign. No, it doesn’t take time; it takes will. The will to change. The will to take a risk. The will to become incompetent – at least for a while.”
Here’s the original Fast Company article “Change Agent“.
Our field is loaded with very competent people and that’s pretty good – - and bad. This article and quote would make an interesting discussion group topic for groups of competent people. A wide ranging and open discussion facilitated by someone who put the discussion on the right path for the best responses to times of turbulent change would be quite exciting.
The opposite of competent management isn’t incompetent management. It’s comfortable management. It’s myopic management. It’s careless management.
“In times of change learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to work in a world that no longer exists.” (attributed to Eric Hoffer)
Anyone noticed any turbulent change in the past few weeks? Anyone seeing any ostrich behaviour?
Just wondering.
Stephen