Ides of March--Risks of Being a Prophet of Change

March 15th--the Ides of March--the day Julius Caesar was murdered.   A prophetess predicted his death at the "Ides of March."  "Beware the ides of March" has become a commonly recognized phrase associated with this event which took place in 44 BC.

Prophecy is a risky profession.  Stemming from the murder of a prophetess to the Greeks who advised one city state that another was going to attack them, the phrase "Don't kill the messenger" is another phrase that has come into common use.

Telling people bad news in advance is risky.  It can be even more so when someone makes changes and the bad news doesn't happen.

More than merely avoiding "bringing bad news," some of my family members point out that, "if you can't fix it or do anything about it, what is your purpose in telling someone about a problem?"

What that kind of question makes me do is to reflect about what I was going to say and to rethink a bit--often leading to improving whatever remarks I was going to give and sometimes improving my input by keeping silent and observing.

When I lived in California I became an earthquake preparedness consultant, learning about earthquakes and how to prepare (physically) to survive them (assuming that you are not killed in the moment they happen).  While this was important for people to know in Los Angeles, in some businesses I was not even allowed to bring the subject up because it would bother people.  I helped develop one of the first Earthquake Preparedness courses and manuals offered by the American Red Cross in Los Angeles.  It has since been revised and is available in 11 languages to help residents know what to do to prepare for and to survive earthquakes.

In some of my work as an organizational change consultant, I advise clients about how to prepare for major change in their business.  Some of my clients don't want to think about the changes because it will disturb the comfort zones of many of their investors or employees.  At the same time, organizations can be more successful in dealing with change if they are prepared for the change and can take positive actions to allow the change to help them rather than to overwhelm them.