Accepting Change and Transition

By Jonathan Porter, CPA

Sydney J. Harris once said, "Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better." Today, Jonathan Porter discusses the struggle of change and how an unlikely family member taught him to push through the tough periods that come with transition.

Jonathan Porter, CPA | Manager
JPorter@MHCScpa.com

See video transcription below:
Hey, I am Jonathan Porter and I am a CAS Manager at McGowen Hurst Clark Smith. In this video, I am going to talk about my new dog.

Olive is a wonderful golden doddle puppy that my wife and I added to our family in early January. Right now, she is about 8 months old and it’s been quite the journey. Before Olive, we had a black lab and she was the best dog. We had to put her down in December after having her for 13 years. When you have a great dog for that long, you forget how hard the change is for the puppy stage.

The past 6 months of having Olive has changed my life. You take advantage of having a 13-year-old lab and I forgot how hard the first 3 years of training was. You just remember the last 10 and are happy with how everything went. But with Olive, you have to be constantly watching her to make sure she learns that the dining room is not a bathroom or your favorite shoes do not need to be moved around the house. Sometimes it is difficult to think that after a few years of training, she will just as great as your old lab and it takes a lot of support from people to remind you. Also, you hope that since you had a dog before, you will be able to train her up even more, so some of those little habits you lived with can maybe not even be a problem with your new pup.

At MHCS, one of my favorite client services is to help transition technology. This can be a forced transition when a software or application is no longer a fit, or a transition to implement a new app to solve a pain point a business might have. Either way, you hope to bring efficiencies to the client’s processes by eliminating double or manual entries. With this comes a lot of change and if a client didn’t have the perspective I did about the change, it would confuse me.
After having Olive, I completely understand their reasoning. With Olive, we got her professionally trained to help jump start the process. During the whole process, the trainer made it seem so easy. When we got home, it seemed impossible to do anything with her. Being on the professional side with technology transitions, it was easy for me to suggest a solution, show them all the tricks and solve all their problems. When I left, the clients would sometimes struggle. I would have to remind myself knowing the program makes everything simple, but that client is going through a lot bigger change than me, so even though everything will be more efficient, it is still a hard process going from that 13-year-old lab to that Goldendoodle puppy.

Through this whole process, I know having Olive be a part of the family will be the best for our life. I have to remind myself that this is a long road, and make sure to trust the trainers and ourselves that we are creating a great dog that we will enjoy for many years. I have learned through all these experiences that during periods of transitions, it is important to be that foundation for that client and coach them through the finish line. You must trust the process knowing that at the end, you will be more efficient and resolve many pain points. Change is a hard concept for everyone, but it’s important to manage those expectations and build a level of trust with each other to make sure we all get through it. As Sydney J. Harris said, “Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.”

Unfortunately, life is not that easy, so whether it is a forced change or something you are looking to improve, change is unavoidable. It’s best to keep moving forward by taking that small step in the right direction. Here at MHCS, we hope to be that coach to help guide you on which way to go.

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