Good Change
About This Episode
Change. Enigmatic. Unpredictable. These days, it feels like the uninvited guest that overstays its welcome, disrupting our carefully constructed routines. But what if, hidden within the debris of the familiar, lies the seed of something truly remarkable?
In this season finale of Mission Forward, Carrie explores the often-uncomfortable reality of transformation. She shares the story of a non-profit CEO whose outward success masked a period of intense internal change, illustrating a powerful truth: sometimes, detours and unexpected roadblocks are precisely what propel us forward. Think of Bob Ross and his "happy accidents"—those unexpected brushstrokes that transform a canvas. It’s this same wisdom that, when applied to organizational change, suggests that seemingly negative events can be remarkable catalysts for growth.
So, embrace the fork in the road. Embrace the unknown. The most rewarding journeys are often the ones for which we never prepared a brief.
Thank you for joining us this year and this season, and from all of us here on the Mission Forward team we wish you a rich, rewarding, and restful holiday. See you in 2025!
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Breaking News.
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It's the year of the chatbot.
The latest setback for climate action.
The latest Supreme Court ruling.
In the latest Supreme Court ruling, the court is set to redefine.
Hey there and thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Mission Forward podcast.
If you can believe it, we have already come to the end of season nine.
Yep, you got it.
This is the last show of 2024 after what has been an incredible year of interviews and conversations on this platform.
And if you haven't heard, we just passed 100,000 downloads.
So thank you for your support and being with us along this awesome journey.
As it is the last show of the year, I thought I'd bring you a little reflection, a story from earlier this week and some takeaways that I am going to move into next year with based on what I learned here on this show.
So here we go.
Earlier this week, I reconnected with the CEO of a national nonprofit after many months.
While we hadn't spoken, I had been keeping track of their work and I expected him to share that 2024 was a banner year, as it had seemed from my outside lens.
Things aren't always as they seem from the outside, though.
In catching up, I learned that his team had experienced a lot of unexpected change.
So much that it required that his organization pause, rethink the structure of their team, and then rebuild with the team of the future in mind.
While they weren't in sync just yet, he was optimistic about the benefits of those unexpected changes and what these new, positive adjustments to the team could mean for the future impact of their work.
Sometimes we find ourselves in these happy accidents, as painter Bob Ross would say, situations we would rather not have been in, that, in the end, benefit our team, our work, and our happiness.
An unexpected job change.
An unexpected move.
An unexpected shift in funding.
Or maybe even an unexpected political victory.
The hard part, of course, is feeling good about the change when we're in the middle of it.
That messy, ambiguous, gray space that is change at work.
This past January, I set out on a year-long journey of conversations about embracing and preparing for change.
Over eight months, I connected with 22 social impact leaders across philanthropy, media, business, and technology to explore how they were navigating changes in their own industries and in their organizations and what communications lessons could be learned from their leadership.
These conversations were produced into a year's worth of episodes right here on this podcast.
Reflecting on all that I learned this year, here are three key takeaways that may be valuable to you if you are going through or planning for some change ahead.
One, when change is imminent, connection is essential.
Don't underestimate the value of a trusted confidant to help you navigate change.
Because never once did I hear, "Oh yeah, I got through those major changes all alone, and it was great."
When it comes to change, together is better.
Learn more about that, about connection and community, in my conversation with Michael Bolden that I had just a couple months ago.
Two, often the most uncomfortable parts of change are the most beneficial.
Those uncomfortable moments that teach us the most about ourselves and each other, whether we like it or not.
So embrace the unwieldy and the uncomfortable, knowing you can learn the most there.
And learn more about that in the episode about radical listening with Jen Brandel and Brian Fox.
And finally, change how you prepare for change.
I loved this conversation I had with Joe Goldman and Crystal Haling of the Democracy Fund, in which they taught me that unpredictable and unlikely disasters often distract our attention.
But preparing for the likely, foreseeable changes—the change that we actually often fail to prepare for—can be the best strategy for navigating any sort of chaos factors ahead.
And be sure to check out that conversation with Joe and Crystal for more about that.
So bottom line, my friends, as we come to the end of this year's Mission Forward podcast and this last episode, I'll leave you with one parting thought.
Change is hard.
And rightfully so.
It feels hard when we're experiencing it.
So if we can remember to embrace the possibility of what that change can bring, and take the fork in the road, you might find some good in the process too.
We'll see you next season.
