Imagine this… You’ve noticed a sickness creeping into your organization. Not only is it hurting your business, but your people are also becoming sick.
For years, you’ve tried to combat this creeping sickness. Yet, the illness returns every time your people show up for work. Some of them are even dying.
Then, someone runs multiple trials with control groups. One of the control groups shows great improvement. So much so that the once-sick employees can help others recover.
Photo by Kathryn Aleksa on Unsplash
But…
You’re unwilling to change. You won’t implement the solution until 42 years later.
This example might sound like fiction. It’s not. This is what happened in the Royal Navy.
The Royal Navy had been plagued with an illness called scurvy. Scurvy caused sailors to have rotting flesh, deteriorating gums, and terror attacks. One British expedition lost 1,300 of its original 2,000 crew members.
Sir Richard Hawkins first recognized a resource that helped reduce the symptoms in 1622. He noticed lemons and oranges reduced or cured the effects of scurvy. Still, nothing was implemented.
James Lind, a medical apprentice, joined the Royal Navy in the late 1730s. He began to observe what scurvy did to the crew members. Then, in 1747, Lind conducted a trial with 12 crew members suffering from scurvy-like symptoms. Those he treated with lemons and oranges recovered enough to help the others. He wrote the Treatise of the Scurvy, documenting his trials and their effects.
Still…
It wasn’t until 42 years later when the Royal Navy ordered lemon juice to be given to the sailors. That’s almost 200 years since someone noticed citrus fruits reduced or cured scurvy for the Royal Navy to implement it as a solution.
That’s a long time for change to be implemented. I wonder how many men were disfigured or lost their lives when a treatment was readily available? I wonder how many women lost their husbands. Mothers lost their sons.
All because the Royal Navy wasn’t willing to change.
How Long Will It Take You To Change?
Large organizations are often slow to change. They’re like a large ship in a vast ocean. To turn the ship, it takes a herculean effort. And the change starts slow.
I don’t want you to fall into the trap of slowly changing your actions because it’s what you’ve always done. Being slow to change can cause irreparable harm to you, your organization, and your people.
When a solution is presented, do you take your time? Do you scoff at the person delivering the solution? Do you choose to keep doing what you’ve always done?
You can’t resist change if you want your organization to be healthy. You have to be willing to change for the sake of the health of your organization.
How Do You Change?
Take note of the issue at hand:
Notice what’s wrong. The Royal Navy noticed there were people showing signs of illness. They realized something was wrong. However, they didn’t know what to do.
Test solutions:
Lind began to test out possible cures for scurvy. He gave six groups of two men a different treatment. One group recovered. The others continued to show symptoms of scurvy.
He concluded that citrus fruits were a way to cure scurvy.
Implement change:
It’s up to you to implement change when you notice a problem and find a solution. Roll out the change to the organization so that the issue at hand is no longer an issue. The quicker you do this, the less of a struggle you’ll have with the effects of the original issue.
