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We’ve all heard the saying “the only thing constant is change.” Despite the fact that change is always occurring around us, most people don’t like change and we often resist it as much as possible. That resistance can easily evolve into negative behavior that affects your performance and others will clearly see it. Nothing good can come from that. Even worse, your negative behavior can become contagious and spread through a unit affecting your co-workers.
Adapting to change is essential for a unit to maintain high morale and to effectively accomplish the mission.
When I entered the Air Force in 1992 after the Cold War ended, a massive military manpower reduction was underway and large reorganizations were taking place. Thirteen years later, we can easily see that those changes to our force structure were necessary.
For example, integrating the Strategic and Tactical Air Commands into the Air Combat Command was a smart move to better integrate combat operations. During that transition, however, there were many skeptics and a lot of uncertainty. Unfortunately, it’s hard to always embrace organizational change while it is occurring because most of us don’t want to modify our work environment.
The Air Force must change the way it organizes, trains and equips its Airmen in order to adapt to changing threats, political climate and technology. Unit reorganizations, force shaping and base closures may appear negative at first but, given time, the benefits shine through. We must not only adapt quickly when a change occurs but also learn to see it coming. This is why companies that foresee the changing economic market and respond to it succeed, whereas companies that refuse to change ultimately fail.
The Air Force and major commands, like U.S. Air Forces in Europe, will continue to transform in order to better accomplish the mission. We need to look at the overall benefits that the change brings and do our part to ensure its implementation occurs as seamlessly as possible. As long as everyone embraces change with a positive attitude, performs their best and works together in a cohesive team, the Air Force will continue to be the world leader in air and space power.
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***image1***
We’ve all heard the saying “the only thing constant is change.” Despite the fact that change is always occurring around us, most people don’t like change and we often resist it as much as possible. That resistance can easily evolve into negative behavior that affects your performance and others will clearly see it. Nothing good can come from that. Even worse, your negative behavior can become contagious and spread through a unit affecting your co-workers.
Adapting to change is essential for a unit to maintain high morale and to effectively accomplish the mission.
When I entered the Air Force in 1992 after the Cold War ended, a massive military manpower reduction was underway and large reorganizations were taking place. Thirteen years later, we can easily see that those changes to our force structure were necessary.
For example, integrating the Strategic and Tactical Air Commands into the Air Combat Command was a smart move to better integrate combat operations. During that transition, however, there were many skeptics and a lot of uncertainty. Unfortunately, it’s hard to always embrace organizational change while it is occurring because most of us don’t want to modify our work environment.
The Air Force must change the way it organizes, trains and equips its Airmen in order to adapt to changing threats, political climate and technology. Unit reorganizations, force shaping and base closures may appear negative at first but, given time, the benefits shine through. We must not only adapt quickly when a change occurs but also learn to see it coming. This is why companies that foresee the changing economic market and respond to it succeed, whereas companies that refuse to change ultimately fail.
The Air Force and major commands, like U.S. Air Forces in Europe, will continue to transform in order to better accomplish the mission. We need to look at the overall benefits that the change brings and do our part to ensure its implementation occurs as seamlessly as possible. As long as everyone embraces change with a positive attitude, performs their best and works together in a cohesive team, the Air Force will continue to be the world leader in air and space power.