Try Out New Ideas

Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water. Daniel 1:12

People don’t want to hear about change. They’re afraid the new ideas will become permanent, even if they don’t work.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—and if it is broke, learn to live with it.

The man in charge of feeding Daniel and his friends a fat-rich diet was afraid the king would hear about their vegan regimen and have him beheaded. Daniel understood the concern and offered a solution—“We’ll go back to the old menu if things don’t work out.”

If you are a change agent in your organization, most of the people you lead would rather leave things as they are. They don’t look forward to getting up from their comfy chairs to try a new piece of furniture.

Ease them into a new idea by suggesting that they try it for a while. Make an honest evaluation at the end of the trial period and offer to go back if it doesn’t work.