Minnesota Institute of Public Health

“The Only Constant is Change” …
“Change We Can Believe In”…
“In Times of Change, Learners Inherit the Earth”…
“Systems Change”
(“Buddy, Can You SPARE Some Change?”) …

We hear a lot about change these days, and goodness knows the times, well, they-are- a….,” like the song says.

Awhile back I came across a great theory: the “Theory of Everything”. (Well it’s about time, don’t you think?).

It went like this: in the course of life there are certain types of change.

The First is, Change for Change Sake. That is a change occurs not because something new is needed, but just because its different. That explains pet rocks, hula hoops, beanie babies, mood rings, and several of today’s high tech toys that are perched in your car, on your desk, in your ear… The change is for no particular reason other than perhaps curiosity or boredom. Why Not? What the heck! Just because.

The Second is, Undeniable Change. Certain things are going to change and there is little or nothing you or I can do about it. It is what it is, and our most common option is just to embrace and adapt to that change. Examples include Aging. The Seasons. Death. Taxes. Just adapt and deal with it.

The Third kind of change is, Crisis-Driven Change. Something is so bad and so traumatic that it must change, and it must change NOW! An out of control child. An active addict. A two trillion dollar deficit. This type of change is generally emotional and chaotic.

The Fourth kind of change is the most interesting to me because it defines and gives purpose to so much of what we do in public health, for example bridging research and practice in prevention and civics. This kind of planned change is Converting Preferable From Possible to Probable. Think about that. This type of change is slow in pace, but strong; usually longlasting, strategic, and goal-driven. In our prevention work, we’ve come to learn that if we show some persistence, some academic rigor, some respect to volunteers and the community, some backbone, and some sweat equity, we can change applied best practices in prevention from a notable exception, to a ‘new normal’.

Now, THAT’s change we can believe in.

-JJ