During his tenure as Grand Master, MW Gale Kenney often quoted the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, Heraclitus: “No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man”. The quote was a reminder that change is the only constant in life, and we as a fraternity must be willing to accept change in order to thrive. That said, making effective change can be a delicate balancing act, and if we are not mindful change can be devastating.

I’m reminded of this truth whenever I walk into a JC Penney. For those not in the know Penney’s, seduced by the success that Ron Johnson had at Apple and Target, and trying to revive a struggling brand, hired Ron Johnson as their new CEO. Johnson immediately revamped Penney’s brand with an always-low-prices, but-never-on-sale marketing message that confused customers. Remodeling stores and deploying new technology at a rapid clip sounded good in theory, but in reality, it left stores looking messy and sales clerks struggling to operate point-of-sale systems. Guess what happened to the customers?

Johnson was ousted, and the CEO that he was hired to replace was brought back and immediately reinstated the same strategy that led to his ouster in the first place. Johnson may have gone too fast too soon, but it doesn’t change the fact that JC Penney was and is a retailer with problems that still need to be fixed. The old/new CEO’s flat out resistance to at least looking at how to make some of the new ideas work was and is a lesson in futility, and does nothing for the customer – current or prospective.

We see the same thing in lodge. Some are so tired of the way things are that they just want to flip the boat and institute their own ideas at the exclusion of others. When reality doesn’t meet expectation, we fall back into old habits. However, just like JCP Penney, the problems still remain. You know what else happens? People find other things to do with their time.

Whether it be the lodge or a venerable retailer, you’ve got to let those who you serve lead the way when it comes to implementing change. When analysts reviewed Johnson’s tenure at Penney’s they found that not once did he conduct customer surveys, listen to feedback, or otherwise learn what Penney’s core customers wanted. It’s great to have an idea of what you want to do, but listening only to yourself doesn’t make you Steve Jobs—it might just make you Don Quixote. Remember, assuming you know all the answers is dangerous. General Colin Powell put it best: “Don’t let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn’t go with it.”

So what’s the lesson to be learned? It is easier to lose your existing brethren than it is to gain new ones. Implementing change is an enormous challenge. It takes time and success is never certain. However, the chances of achieving success are increased when your brethren are vested in your success. They need to participate in the process. Such involvement will create an increased level of understanding and a belief that any change that is put forth is a good idea and not simply change for change’s sake.

So what’s the solution? General Dwight Eisenhower said “Extremes to the right and to the left of any dispute are always wrong.” At the end of the day, we all really want the same things for our respective lodges. The only disagreements that we have are about how these noble objectives are to be achieved and by whom the task of achieving them is best executed. So you can either stand your ground and adopt an “I’m in charge here” sort of attitude; or you can seek the more inclusive middle ground by including insight and counsel from the brethren that you are supposed to serve. Either way, the river is still going to flow – you just don’t want it to engulf you.