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  Change Is….

  Internationally known Geophysicist, Peter Vail, was giving a lecture at Georgetown University on change. He was talking about change in the earth but he was also talking about human systems, people, and the changes we’ve gone through in the recent past.

  His lecture was entitled “Never Ending Whitewater”. An interesting topic. It has to do with how systems and people and the world are all changing. And it is a never ending process.

  The part of Dr. Vail’s lecture that most interests me is the part where he was talking about human systems. He said up until the 1980s, in business, in government, the way people were living their lives was pretty much a status quo process. We’d come up through wars and things had re-stabilized around the world fairly much.

  But in the 1980s things began to be shaken up a bit. The metaphor he used was, “You would go to work, and going to work was like going on a canoe trip.”

  He said, “You would take your canoe to the river, and you’d load in your hunting gear, your fishing gear, camping equipment, food, sleeping bag and tent.

  You’d put all your stuff in the canoe. Then you launch off into the water, and head out into the middle of the river. You’d paddle for awhile and get moving the direction you want. You just float along, got out your fishing pole and fished for a little while. And then you could see rapids coming up ahead, so you put down your pole and get your paddle ready.

  Then you begin to work through the rapids and flow on downstream. And when you come out the other side of the rapids, you once again put down your paddle, pick up your pole and just drift along and do a little fishing. Maybe even catch something for dinner.
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  After awhile you get tired of being in the river and you want a break so you find yourself a nice sandy beach. You beach your canoe and you get out. You hike around a bit, just take a stretch and have some lunch.

  Then when you’re ready, you get back into your canoe and launch again. You go back out in the river and paddle the rapids a little bit. Then you have a break and you fish or just sit back and look around for awhile, enjoying the moment and the scenery.

  You do this until you’re ready to stop at the end of the day. You find a beach, you bank your canoe and you get out and pitch your tent, have your dinner and so on. The next day you go on and do the same thing.”

  A Shift Occurred

  What Dr. Vail talked about occurred in the beginning of the 1980’s. There was a shift in organizations and in government agencies. He said, “You take your canoe with all your gear and you launch off like usual. But as soon as you get out in the river it’s all whitewater, it’s rapids, and they’re pretty significant.

  You battle the currents and you keep your boat going. You do what you need to. You fight through this process, which is really fun but after awhile you started getting tired. And you’re looking for a break, but there’s never a place where there isn’t whitewater. It’s everywhere.

  As you’re paddling downstream, you’re also looking for a place to get a break. But, there’s no sandy beach. It’s like you’re boxed in by these high walls on each side, almost like a canyon. And the best you can do is every once in awhile you find this little out space in the river, where there’s a back eddy, by the canyon wall.

  So you take your boat over there and just sit for a minute in the back eddy. You let your arms rest, because you’re really tired from paddling nonstop for hours. You have some lunch, then off you go—back out in the whitewater again. And you go, and you go, and you shoot the rapids and you keep going.
• About the Author
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  For nearly thirty years Dr. Larry Iverson has educated, motivated and entertained audiences. From his work with Olympic and world-class athletes to the main platform of Fortune 500 conferences, Larry delivers persuasion and communication strategies you can apply right now. Larry blends vision with his background as a Clinical Psychologist in guiding you on an insightful journey, while you develop insights that assist your personal development. Larry masterfully uses enthusiasm and humor to help you gain control in your life.

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