Hello all! We are in a series called What does Pickleball have to do with change management? In this series, I’m sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned from playing pickleball that have direct application to my work as a change management practitioner. I took a break last week. Last week’s post was Honest, authentic communication is important. This week’s lesson is….

Don’t judge a book by its cover

One of the great things about pickleball is that you don’t have to be a certain age, body type, or level of athletic ability to have fun and be successful. On more than one occasion, I’ve made the mistake of judging how easy/hard a game is going to be by the outward appearance of my opponents. I may judge them as not a threat only to be thrashed because they are super talented or I may think I have no chance only to find out I’m the better player. At times people have decided that, due to my age and size, there’s no way I’m going to get to a ball only to end up on the losing end of the point!

I’ve learned that my best bet is to be non-judgmental about whomever I’m playing against and to focus more on myself and showing up as the best me I can be in the game.

My best bet is to be non-judgmental about whomever I’m playing against and to focus more on myself and showing up as the best me I can be in the game.

As change management practitioners, we can also fall victim to labeling individuals or groups of people. We can decide that a person or group is going to be especially difficult or super easy. Inevitably, those mental models influence how we interact with those people. Sometimes, we will be surprised and sometimes our judgments end of being a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Perhaps, it would be more helpful to the initiative and certainly to the people involved if we interact with our fellow human beings with openness, curiosity, and being non-judgmental. That way, we can focus our attention more fully on what’s taking place in the present moment and how we can be the best change practitioner we can be in that moment.

Closing thoughts

I want to hear from you! Have you “judged a book by its cover” in your change work? What was the result of this approach?

Please post your thoughts and comments below. Let’s help each other become the best change management practitioners and enthusiasts we can be!

Thank you for reading. Until next time, take care and keep up the good work!