Open to Change? That’s Not Enough.

How many people do you know who say they’re open to change?

“I’m progressive.”  “I love new ideas.”  “I’m not afraid of change.”

Sure. Sounds good. Feels even better to say it out loud. But how true is it, really?

We all like to believe we’re flexible. That we’re the kind of people who adapt. That we’re not stuck. That we’re open. But saying you’re open to change and actually changing are two very different things.

I’ve seen it plenty of times, especially with owners or managers. They’ll attend a conference, hear a great speaker, scribble pages of notes, get inspired, talk about the future of the business, tell their team, “We need to change things up.” Then Monday comes, and they quietly slip back into the same routine they’ve had for the last five years. Same systems. Same frustrations. Same outcomes.

It’s not that they’re lazy. It’s not that they don’t care. It’s just that saying you’re open to change is easy. It’s comfortable. It costs nothing.

But being in change? That’s something else entirely.

That’s uncomfortable. That’s disruptive. That’s vulnerable. That means shifting how you lead, how you decide, how you delegate, and how you respond when things don’t go to plan.

And it always starts with this illusion that because we’re willing to change, we must be doing it.

But the truth? Most of us are lying to ourselves.

We say we’re open to feedback, but we get defensive when someone challenges our decisions. We say we want innovation, but only if it doesn’t make us uncomfortable. We say we’re building for the future, but we’re still stuck in systems that barely worked five years ago.

We hang onto legacy processes, legacy roles, legacy tools, because deep down, change is scary. It threatens what we know. And what we know makes us feel safe, even if it’s not working anymore.

That’s why the question isn’t are you open to change? The question is are you changing fast enough?

Because in this industry, speed matters.

Change is not a someday thing. It’s not a “when the timing is better” thing. It’s a now thing. You are either moving forward or you are falling behind.

It doesn’t matter how strong your values are or how well-liked your team is. If your systems are outdated, if your numbers don’t make sense, if your team is stuck waiting for permission while your competitors are already adapting, then no amount of “open to change” talk is going to help.

Being open is passive. It’s a mindset. But change itself is active. It demands movement. And not just any movement. Intentional, uncomfortable, consistent movement.

When I work with practices, one of the most common traps I see sounds like this:

“That’s a lot of time I’d need to dedicate, time I don't have.”

“That wouldn’t work for us—we’re unique.” 

“We’ve got a different model.”

Or they simply overplan everything and eventually it gets put in the too-hard basket.

I get it. The fear of the uncertain. The what-ifs.

But you don’t need to have all the answers to start.

Start with one thing. One change. One shift. Then measure it. Watch what happens. If it works, double down. If it doesn’t, pivot.

It’s not about being reckless. It’s about being responsive.

You want to know who actually creates momentum? The ones who try, adjust, and keep moving. The ones who fail quickly and learn faster. The ones who don’t need a perfect plan

to take the first step.

They aren’t loud about it. They aren’t flashy. But they’re building something better every single month, while others are still talking about how they’re “working on it.”

And here’s the kicker. The longer you wait to change, the harder it becomes to move. Not because the task gets bigger, but because your inertia grows heavier.

You get attached to the story you’ve been telling. You convince yourself it’s not that bad. You settle for, “This is just how we do it.” And the more people you bring into that story, the harder it is to rewrite.

I know people who avoid change not because it’s hard, but because the truth makes them uncomfortable. Because if they admit things need to shift, they also have to admit they waited too long. And that kind of honesty is confronting. It can feel like failure. Like they’ve failed as a leader or manager.

But let me say this as clearly as I can. The only thing worse than making a tough change is pretending you don’t need to.

That’s not leadership. That’s survival mode. And no one builds a great business from there.

Great leaders adapt. They may not have all the answers. They ask, they seek, they collaborate with their team. They collect information and make those tiny shifts in degrees. And those shifts compound.

You don’t need a business degree. You don’t need a massive team. You just need to stop waiting.

Curiosity. Action. Iteration. That’s the formula.

So here’s the real question.

Are you actually changing?

Are you experimenting? 

Are you confronting what’s outdated, even if you built it yourself?

Are you listening when the data tells a different story than your gut? Are you moving fast enough to matter?

You can tell yourself you're open to change. 

You can even convince others of it. But unless you’re doing it—and doing it fast enough—you’re just sitting still.

And the world is moving on without you.