I was reading G.K. Chesterton last week and stumbled onto this quote:
“There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, ‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.’ To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: ‘If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.’”
— The Thing, G.K. Chesterton
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately, especially watching the constant branding changes in the whisky industry.
Every time I turn around, someone is redoing fonts, changing bottles, rewriting websites, altering packaging, shifting color schemes. Reinventing. Refreshing. Modernizing.
Now, to be fair, I’m not anti-change. I’m currently helping one of the companies I consult for go through a significant brand evolution. So yes, pot meet kettle.
But too often we start changing before we understand.
Change for change’s sake is not necessarily progress. Sometimes it’s just motion.
The same thing is true at Wizard Academy.
We run more than 30 events a year on campus. There’s a well-worn path we follow each time: meals, tower prep, tastings, classrooms, logistics, the entire rhythm of hosting and sending people back out into the world.
When you repeat something that often, it can start to feel predictable to the team. Familiar. Maybe even boring.
And that’s when the temptation creeps in.
We once stopped using a restaurant we regularly hired for catering. We liked them. There was no problem. We were just tired of eating the same thing every week.
What we forgot was that our students don’t eat it every week.
They experience it once. Maybe twice a year. For many of them, it’s part of the ritual. Part of what they look forward to.
In a class of twenty people, more than half were visibly disappointed when the meal changed.
It was a quiet but very real lesson. Change is not always improvement.
All of this to say, be patient.
Before you tear down the fence, understand why it was built.
If you can’t explain what purpose something serves, don’t assume it serves none. Go away and think. Then come back.
Sometimes change is necessary and powerful.
And sometimes it’s just change.
Daniel Whittington – Chancellor
