What we know definitively about the change process is that you cannot manage it. Change must be led. Some people must take the risk and go in front and play this role. We are on a journey. We are the descendants of those who survived the Middle Passage, slavery and colonization. The majority of our people have successfully divorced themselves from the dying order. They may not yet be ready to take on the responsibility of building the new order. Remember, the future is always created; those who do not accept the responsibility will default to others or to circumstances.

Here are some tips for those who will accept the responsibility on how to make change work:

1. Specify the nature of the change. Do not allow the process to be sidetracked into a new set of partisan interests. Always remember, Jamaica first.

2. Explain why.

3. Let the people know the full scope of the change even if it has some components with which some will be uncomfortable because of their vested interest in the Old Order.

4. Repeat, repeat, and repeat again the purpose of the change and actions planned. Be willing to dream and venture outside the box. We have been proven to be more than capable, many times and in many arenas.

5. Make sure communication is two-way.

6. Target reference group leaders at all levels of the society.

7. Support change with new learning. Some communities will take longer to leave the political plantation. Be patient with them. Anyone can learn almost anything if you break it into small enough units.

8. Point to real progress as you go along. Find small sparks indicative of the New Order in your communities and work places and fan them into flames.

9. Don’t limit communications just to meetings, press releases and talk shows. Use every opportunity to talk about the New Jamaica that we are praying and working for.

10. Institutionalize information flow about the change by documenting the process as it evolves.  Yes, change is a process, not an event. This revolution does not have to be televised because we now have the Internet.

11. Model the changes yourself. Remember the admonition to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify the Father”. Marley did remind us that the fight is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness in high and low places. Prepare yourself, spiritually, mentally and physically for the long haul. This is not a sprint. It is more than a marathon.

Some More Thoughts on Change  

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.

-Buddha

 Figure out what changes, what doesn’t change, and what you want to change.   

-Anne Hartman, Essex Partners

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.

-Carl Rogers

 You are not happy because you are well.  You are well because you are happy. You are not depressed because trouble has come to you, but trouble has come to you because you are depressed. You can change your thoughts and feelings, and then the outer things will come to correspond, and indeed there is no other way of working. 

-Emmet Fox

Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine.

-Kathleen Norris

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

-Andy Warhol

Our only security is our ability to change.

-John Lilly

by Dr. Leahcim Semaj

Leahcim T. Semaj & Company Limited

The JobBank

Tel: (876) 960-5627

Fax: (876) 756-2337 

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