Books, videos, and courses can be excellent for building our base of knowledge. For me, they continue to be a useful resource for learning.

But the best way to learn something new and build competence is by doing. We apply what we’ve learned through practice.

Think about when you learned to ride a bike. For most of us, it didn’t take on the first try. It took repetition and practice. The more you rode, the more you learned what worked. The more you fell, the more you learned what didn’t. The more experience you got, the better you became.

The same is true for a lot of capabilities. We acquire some knowledge and then, through practice, we gain more experience. Eventually, we achieve a level of proficiency. As we get better at it, it becomes both a strength and a source of confidence.

“Look at me! I’m riding a two-wheeler!”

Dealing with change is no different. The more change you’ve created, led, managed, accepted, adopted, endured, or received, the better and more confident you become with change, regardless of your role.

The more you’ve done it, the more it becomes a strength. The less it’s a source of fear or worry (but it won’t guarantee that you’ll always agree with it).

Not surprisingly, this is one of the places I start for any new initiative. I seek to understand the collective experience people have with making change happen. If I can do that, it’s another insight that helps to inform the overall approach.

If you’re a leader in an organization today, take a look at your team. Start with your direct reports. Do you know what their collective experience is with driving change? If not, start figuring it out, because even if you don’t have shiny new projects on the horizon, change is happening all the time. Sometimes, change just shows up and you aren’t expecting it.

Maybe one day, in our workplaces, we’ll be surrounded by people who consider change as a strength.

Just like riding a bike.

Have a great weekend!