Change is painful, change is good

This morning I will lose my right thumb joint. It’s been a good joint and has served me well for five decades, but for the past three years it has deteriorated. How much? Let’s just say that it is extremely hard for me to write with a pen, pick up anything heavier than a paperback, or open a jar. And let’s not even talk about handshakes (ouch!).

My left thumb joint is already gone, and man, things are great! Yes, it was painful, awkward, and tedious during the four months of recovery and rehab. But it was worth it. I can now pick up things without pain. I can twist knobs without pain. And I can even manage a left-handed shake.

So why all of this about my medical situation? No, the Doctor is not going senile – I do have a point to make. It’s about change. As in, change is good.

Your job board started at a particular point in time. It might have been 1995, or it might have been yesterday. But the minute it went live, it (and you) began interacting with your audiences: employers and candidates. Your site and services began aging. And all around you, things were (and are) changing.

No doubt your business has changed since its launch. Maybe you offer different services. Maybe you’ve expanded your geographic or industry reach. Maybe you even changed some of this on purpose!

But somewhere along the line, you probably have your own version of my failing arthritic thumb joint – something that used to work just wonderfully. Note the word ‘used’. That means, of course, that it isn’t working all that great now. But – just like me – you grit your teeth, keep plugging along, and try to ignore the pain.

Gritting your teeth only gets you so far before you lose your enamel (and gain a new set of problems). Sooner or later you either end up crippled, thus lacking the functioning you previously had, or you face up to the problem. Sometimes you simply have to cut out the offending joint (or service or whatever – you know what I mean). Maybe you come up with something new that has all the advantages of the old service, but none of the disadvantages. Maybe you ditch everything.

The key here is that you do something. You initiate change because you must. You initiate change because if you don’t, things aren’t going to get better – in fact, they’re going to get worse.

So, yeah – change is painful. But you know what? Change is good, too. You can trust me on this.

[Want to get Job Board Doctor posts via email? Subscribe here.].

[Check out the JobBoardGeek podcast archive!]