We’re obsessed with change in our organizations. Change is fine with me. But I do think that we shoot ourselves in the foot by refusing to realize that change is connected to the past, to continuity. Not everything changes when change happens. It can’t. And what doesn’t change can either help or hurt the actual, meaningful change that does take place.

You risk the success of the change you want by insisting that nothing can, should, or does remain the same. Look for the positives that stay the same, that continue. History can be an excellent source of case studies for the healthy interplay between change and continuity.