So now that my wife and I are moved into our new home, there are several things that we have realized we need to change. The first one we noticed was the single sink in the bathroom. We know from our experience at our previous home that two sinks are much more functional for us. As I started to look at the options and what it would take to make the change, it looked like a lot of work and expense, and I wondered if we should just leave it the way it was. Finally, I decided to move forward and am happy to say that I am in the process of installing the new vanity, sinks, mirror, and light.
I was originally going to title this blog ‘renovations’, but I decided to look up the definition which is “to restore to good condition; make new or as if new again; repair.” I’m not just restoring the bathroom, I’m changing it and realized that innovate, which means “to introduce something new; make changes in anything established,” is a much better term.
In The Mandt System, we encourage organizations to innovate. When what you’re doing isn’t working “to introduce something new.” This sometimes takes the form of an intervention or plan that you haven’t tried before or a change in the environment like putting up a fence or other barrier along a busy road or changing the furniture in a classroom or home to make it safer for everyone. Yes, it will often require additional work and expense and depending on your organization you may have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it done, but when our current condition isn’t functional for our staff and people in our programs isn’t it worth the time and effort to change it and make it so it is?
Doug ZehrVogt, Mandt System Faculty
