I’m part of a committee at the university that is looking into replacing the online platform we use for both distance education and for many of our face-to-face courses. This is a huge and awful frustrating project, but I’m not going to write about that because, frankly, I don’t want to bore you to death.
Recently we met with some of the instructors who will be testing out some of our potential options for systems and we asked them a lot of questions about what they want to be able to do with it. The questions basically fit into two categories – 1) what do you want to be able to continue you to do that you’re doing now with our existing system and 2) what do you wish that you could do with it?
This got me thinking about any time I’m considering making a change. We often get stuck thinking about the things we don’t like about a current product or situation and some time on what we like about it that we’d like to keep, but very little time on what we hope / want to be able to do after a change to something else.
For example, you’re thinking of selling your house. The move isn’t required for your job or anything like that. What are the features that you like in your current house that you also want in the new one? What are the features that you want in the new one that you don’t have in your current house? The same questions would be appropriate if you’re thinking of changing jobs or switching cable companies or any other changes that may be big or small.
I’ve mentioned previously that I’m prone to following shiny objects such as new apps, journals, etc., which can be a real time waster. It’s too easy to look around randomly for a different to-do list app, see its features and get sucked into reading a lot of reviews. If I started off by saying what features I do like about what I have and what additional features I want a new app to have then I could easily narrow down my search. If there’s nothing that has those new things then I might as well stick with the one I have. Search over. Time (and maybe money) saved.
Think about what you have that you like (how it looks, how it functions, how little it’s costing you) and what you’d like to have in addition. Don’t forget to think about this with some gratitude in mind.
Also, if the new thing has something that you want, do you want it enough to make up for it not having one or more of the features that you liked about what you already have. I changed jobs about eight years ago. I work more days, but my commute got shorter and I enjoy the work that I do so much more. In this case, the trade-off was worth it, but I wouldn’t have done it if it was the same work that I was doing at my previous job.
Change for the sake of change is rarely a good idea. It should have a purpose. Keep this in mind when you’re tempted to stand in line for the latest gadget or because the TV on sale on Black Friday might be better than the one you bought just a couple of years ago. Be sure of what you have, what you want, and what the change might mean.
Featured image courtesy of Diariocritico de Venezuela under a CC-BY license.
