Openness to change can determine one’s success in the workplace and the academic field. As a concept, openness to change refers to flexibility in accepting new ideas and not being afraid of taking risks. It is also about not giving in to the fear of the unknown and uncertainties but instead embracing them and using them to one’s advantage. This paper aims to answer two research questions: how openness to change relates to workplace success and how I have practiced it throughout my undergraduate degree.
Openness to success can correlate to workplace success, and evidence suggests that. To begin with, work environments today are evolving faster than ever (The Arbinger Institute, 2019). In the previous century, passing through training once mainly was enough to start working and continue progressing. New training was not as needed as today due to the lower frequency of new developments.
The speed and the quantity of new emerging developments and trends make it crucial to be open to adopting them. This means those not ready to follow the most recent changes will inevitably lose their advantage compared to those who practice openness to change. The second reason openness to change is closely interlinked with workplace success is the importance of innovation as a driver of companies’ and individuals’ success. Innovative ideas attract the most attention and distinguish one worker from another. Therefore, success depends heavily on how innovative and creative they are.
Even though workplace success cannot exist without qualities related to openness to change, it is not, however, the most important or decisive factor. Some other qualities and skills can play an equally important role and are indispensable when succeeding in a career. There is a set of essential soft and hard skills; thus, it would not be correct to prioritize openness to change as the only quality one needs to have to be successful. However, it can be said that openness to change often contributes to developing other skills, as individuals who possess this quality are also open to learning anything they need to learn. Openness to change can be considered as a basis for one’s continuous progress.
As it was mentioned earlier, openness to change is an indispensable quality when it comes to the learning process. Speaking qualitatively, throughout my learning journey, I have also had to practice openness to change in several ways continuously. The first way I have done it has been through being open to feedback from professors and peers.
Other people have often provided me with remarks and ideas I would otherwise never consider. I would be reluctant to do anything regarding those remarks if it were not for openness to change. I also try to be proactive, stay up-to-date on the new knowledge in the field, and have to challenge my assumptions constantly. Quantitatively speaking, I can say that I have practiced openness to change in around 80% of the cases when I faced new concepts, challenges, or other situations. In the other 20%, I am still somewhat reluctant to embrace novelties, which is something I can improve.
Reference
The Arbinger Institute. (2019). The outward mindset: Seeing beyond ourselves. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
