Socrates is credited with saying, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

Companies often have deeply embedded behaviors, processes, and culture, and these can make fighting the old daunting for leaders and exhausting for change agents. A quick Google search turns up countless articles highlighting the scary unknown: the complicated nature of our world, impending economic upheaval, and the shifting and dangerous geopolitical crosswinds, to name just a few.

Combine these intimidating factors with a company’s embedded culture, and resisting change feels like the rational decision.

There is significant literature and research supporting change management practices, including how to seek out early adopters, how to win the hearts and minds of the resisters, and how to collaborate across each of these groups. But in a world where change is the one constant, I suggest we redefine change as a variable we embrace to consistently refine our processes and shift our behaviors. In other words, switch from the idea of moving from one place to another (i.e., change, which can be unnerving for many) to encouraging advancement from within one’s current dynamic, thereby focusing all our energy on building the new, rather than fighting the old.

Okay, you say, that appears theoretically sound, but let’s be honest, with embedded corporate cultures, is that really a practical way to ease the burden of change?

Fair challenge, so let’s try it this way: For those of us with kids, what does the child-rearing literature say to do when your child scrapes their knee or bangs their head (after ensuring they are not really injured)? Redirect their energies and help them discover something new to focus on!

This concept is not meant to replace decades of academically researched change management best practices, for they are well-established and can be very effective. However, identifying early adopter champions or spending hours with a range of individuals in an attempt to convince them why change is needed may be the long way home, versus simply refocusing our efforts on building the new.

When we focus on change, we tend to focus on the problem (which, of course, does exist, hence the need for change), and this is where we tend to get bogged down with energy-depleting effort. So let’s not be distracted with the scrape on our knee, but rather, emphasize the value and benefits of building the new.