Bring the past

There’s an unspoken contract we may sense in change work: don’t look backward. Look forward. Leave the baggage where it belongs: in the past. Don’t base what you know of the world on what happened before—not unless you want to repeat what happened before. If we let that kind of ‘knowing’ calcify, we may never move again.

Sometimes, the past can be a teacher for the worse. If we’re looking for it, the past gives us plenty of evidence for why we should resist change (It’s failed before), protect the status quo (Let’s choose the devil we know rather than the devil we don’t), or dig our heels in with certain people, ideas, or organizations (We just don’t mix).

But if we frame it the right way, the past can be a teacher for the better.

Think of the past not as dead weight but as scaffolding. Stand on it; find the right balance thanks to it. It may not be pretty, but used well, it can prop up our understanding and elevate us higher. The past gives us plenty of direction for why we may as well embrace change (The world will change regardless of our capacity to change along with it), hold our view of the status quo with less ego and preciousness (Keeping things the same has never brought us anywhere new); or invite new voices to the mix (We have been wrong before, when we thought we were right).

Never regret the past. Use it.