A regular feature of my monthly newsletter, The Leader Letter, has been the section entitled “Thoughts that Make You Go Hmmm….on_____.” Here’s a preview of that section that will appear in the February issue being e-mailed to subscribers next week.

“Progress everywhere today does seem to come so very heavily disguised as Chaos.”
Joyce Grenfell (1910–79), British actor, writer.

“Too much security and the refusal to evolve, to embrace change, leads to a kind of death.”
Jean Vanier, Becoming Human

“It’s not so much that we’re afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it’s that place in between that we fear… It’s like being between trapezes. It’s Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There’s nothing to hold on to.”
Marilyn Ferguson, American author, editor, and speaker, best known for her book The Aquarian Conspiracy

“The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate of it. The systems that fail are those that rely on the permanency of human nature, and not on its growth and development.”
Oscar Wilde, 19th Century Irish playwright and poet

“Organizations that are built to change must view people as open and willing to learn and as eager to try new things. They must have structures that are constantly refocusing attention and resources on both current and future problems and opportunities. They must have reward systems that encourage learning and growth as well as current value-added activities. Finally, they must have financial processes and other systems that support innovation and the start-up of new products and services.”
Edward E. Lawler III and Christopher G. Worley, Built to Change: How to Achieve Sustained Organizational Effectiveness