Blech, Change

I recently joined a service organization, was asked to serve as Treasurer, and agreed, which probably wasn’t a good idea.

But that’s not the subject of this post.

When I agreed, it was with the understanding that the group had a certain way of doing their books and they wanted to fully leverage their QuickBooks investment.  There were several years of transactions in the system and it was up to date, but reports were still being copied into Excel.  The Board didn’t care for the way the Excel sheets were formatted and wanted a better presentation of current and past expenditures.

I agreed, for many many reasons (which are  not the subject of this post) and spent over 100 hours learning to use QuickBooks, tracking down accounts and procedures for accepting money/recording money/writing checks etc etc.  Thank goodness I had a mentor!  My first report to the Board, based on emails and random Excel spreadsheets was an unmitigated disaster.

I pulled my grown up panties on and kept going.  I made good progress.  I began to understand basic accounting principles like income and expenditure and accounts and subaccounts.  I saw the relationship between subcategories of income and subcategories of donations.  It began to fall into place.  I felt good.  My mentor felt good.  I generated a financial report at the next Board meeting and it was another unmitigated disaster.  There was loud outrage and pushback.  They wanted their spreadsheets!

I had a solid alcoholic drink and regrouped.  I set a meeting for my Budget Committee to discuss the situation and get some answers to outstanding questions I had about how some of the deposits. All went swimmingly until we got to the report.  Lots of noise.  There may have been some shouting. A standoff ensued of “we want our spreadsheets” vs “I’m not keeping two sets of books for you ladies.”  That devolved into “If you really want spreadsheets, then you need to find a replacement.”  I admit, I secretly hoped they would replace me (I’d already written a letter of resignation and it’s a beaut).

To close this out – cooler heads prevailed and the old guard started to listen and realized that everything on their beloved spreadsheets was in the new report – it just looked different!  The decision was made to carry on because change is inevitable.  The organization needs to modernize and take their money seriously and having multiple versions does not serve that end. As the new kid on the block, I was frustrated and annoyed and ready to chuck it all and have another drink.  But for now I’m going to forge ahead.

Meanwhile, at work, I was trying to help out a local staffer who got some information from one of my colleagues, who is new, and still learning the ropes.  I was inwardly indignant and snarky that the new person hadn’t followed the procedures and there were missing pieces, her work hadn’t been documented and I essentially had to start over to get my person on the road.  Then I slid off my high horse and laughed at the universe for showing me both sides of the equation.

I’ve been in my job since 2011 and, honestly, it took me 2 years to figure out our convoluted processes and filing systems.   I’ve been raked over the coals for not knowing something and my boss has said, thoughtfully, “I realize you don’t know this, but I don’t know how you would know you don’t know this” (Because you don’t know what you don’t know).  

I understand the systems now and I’ve paid dearly for that knowledge, so changing anything up is not a pleasant prospect for me.  I think of how things were and how they are now and I assume the process is so easy everyone can do it. But they’re not. Things still aren’t streamlined, and there is a steep learning curve for anyone coming on board.  But I digress.

Change is hard!  Learning is hard!  Our brains find shortcuts and soon we’re on autopilot and we cruise along thinking we’re following the same set of rules, but we’re not; not really.  We’re human and we all want things done the way we want them done.

And for many, the reaction to change, is resistance.  Change is threatening.  Change is different.  We don’t want to put ourselves out, other people have to accomodate us.  We forget that change is a constant and refusal to adapt results in others bypassing us and soon we are all alone while the world goes whizzing by.

I remember how hard it was to learn my job.  I remember deciding that my purpose there is to be compassionate and empathetic to my coworkers, or as I phrase it “to be a calm and steadying influence in the workplace.”  That means keeping my snark to myself.

And in my new organization, I’ve been there less than a year (oh, why did they ask me and why why why did I say yes?)  I bring a fresh eye to their process and mad organizational and project management skilz to the table.  There will be adjustments on both sides, no doubt.  Both sides need to move.

Meanwhile, the world goes on and we’re looking at all kinds of external change.  I recommend you take a deep breath, exhale, and figure out your bottom line.  Then find alignment and a way through.  Life isn’t going to stop while you’re screaming about the new.

/dsh

9/16/20