According to George Bernard Shaw, ‘Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds, cannot change anything’. The saying, ‘nothing is permanent–but change’, though overused seems to carry much significance in the twenty-first century. Change has turned so pervasive that the very survival of any organisation depends upon its ability to cope with it. In this age of paradox, contradiction, opportunity and change, some people are apprehensive that things may get worse. But positive minded individuals believe that change is encouraging because they feel things may get better. To those who have confidence in themselves, change is a stimulus because they believe one person can make a difference and influence what goes on around them.

Challenges and uncertainty

Organisations are constantly facing unprecedented challenges brought about by the relentless progress of globalistion and new technologies. The forces of change affect almost every section of business and industry. Decision-making is becoming riskier and organisations are perpetually caught in a web of uncertainty. This could bring progress to a grinding halt. At the least, it can trigger economic slowdowns.

Ideas that used to take fifty years to be born, now take only five minutes to grow and mature. Everything is changing at such a fast pace that the great success stories of yesterday are already outmoded today. Throughout human history, whenever changes have taken place, people have shown an aversion to them. In almost every field – the arts, sciences, medicine, business – new ideas have met resistance or rejection at first. Only when people have moved beyond fear, have they felt free and been able to face challenges.