Most mornings, our dog ends up standing in one spot in the garden barking at a telephone pole. We can’t move the telephone pole or the fence by which he stands. And, while technically we can, we can’t really stop him from going outside. And so for the moment we let him bark as it does no harm other than being annoying. Eventually, we either plant some bushes so he can’t stand in ‘his’ spot or we’ll train him to find other things to bark at.

Often change makers need to make similar decisions. Certain things or behaviours by people are annoying, but harmless. And there are no quick fixes. So we let it go on for a while while focus on other things. This approach does not reduce the annoyance but it means we are focused. Change making is all about choices – we can’t do everything at once.

Photo by Jamie Street