Hi! I’m starting this blog to open a dialogue about the kinds of changes that all professionals face – and to offer some informal observations about what I see as I travel the country (and occasionally the world) speaking about change.

This week, however, I wasn’t on the road. I was home in Berkeley, California when my husband and I got an invitation to attend the Silent Film Festival in San Francisco. Knowing nothing about silent movies (except for the few flickering images we’d seen on TV) we went with low expectations.

Big mistake! If you ever have the opportunity to see a silent film – especially if it is at the drop dead gorgeous Castro Theatre, and (most especially) if it the live music accompanying it is on “the Might Wurlitzer” – run to get in line! You will be amazed and highly entertained by the experience.

Anyway - there I was, watching movies starring Harold Lloyd, Lillian Gish, and Clara Bow – all film actors at the zenith of their careers. And it started me thinking about how few of these great actors successfully made the move from silent films to “talkies.”

So I wanted my first posting to reflect one of my key beliefs about change and professionals (in any field): As good as you are, if you stay doing what you do in the same way you do it, you will be obsolete. Or as Will Rogers more succinctly put it, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get hit by a train if you just stand there.”

Change may not always seem like a good thing. And it often isn’t easy. But it’s almost always a better option than standing still.

At least that’s my opinion. What do you think?