Practicing Patience When Overnight Change Doesn’t Exist

MY VIEW

One of my mentors once told me that public organizations take seven years to make sustainable changes. I was young and naïve, and I told him he was wrong. 

We discussed the need for schools to adapt to the changes occurring in modern society, so I was disappointed to hear him say it would take that long. I wanted to move quickly and felt that others in the organization did as well. The evidence of the need for systemic change was (and is) everywhere.

He told me, “A new system that meets the needs of students and is supported by staff and community is not something you can go buy from an education resource company like Houghton Mifflin. Building anything worthwhile in life takes time. First, it takes time to understand the current issues within a school system. Second, you must wait for the right opportunity. Third, you need to do the necessary work to bring others along with you.”

The bottom line was this: I needed to develop patience. Meaningful change requires patience.