Let’s start off with this week’s white board quip.

I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed.
– Steven Wright

That means that, once again, I have two WBQotW posts back-to-back. Which means that I have, once again, gotten lazy about blogging. Yes, I know. I said that I’d be busy and that posts would get scarce, but it’s not just the blog that has fallen behind.

So, I’m back to that point in the cycle of my life where I’m irritated at myself. Call it procrastination. Call it sloth. Call it plain old lazy. Whatever it is, it’s crept back into my life. Time for a change.

Change. There’s been a lot of talk about “Change” in the last year thanks to one particularly shallow and insipid presidential campaign. Change is a dangerous word if left to itself. Change what? Why? How? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then change can ruin.

In my personal case, the “what” is my attitude toward tasks and goals, my level of self discipline, my work ethic. These things need to change. The “why” is pretty basic. I have a lot of things to do that aren’t getting done. This reflects poorly on me both personally and professionally. The “how” is more complex (as it always should be). I need to get back to making lists and accomplishing those lists. I need to more closely manage my time. I need to get back into an attitude-building routine.

But what if you seek change without answering the qualifying questions? “We need change.” Ok. From now on, your salary will be paid not in US dollars, but in monopoly money. That’s change. Or, from now on, police officers will be allowed to shoot you if they think you’re ugly. That’s change. Or, from now on, you’re only allowed to eat lawn trimmings and dog turds. That’s change. What if change means destroying the economy with huge tax increases, taking away basic freedoms, protecting trees and bugs while declaring human life expendable, and making the pursuit of happiness impossible?

I hope you see where I’m going with this. Sometimes change is needed, but only when you can answer the what, why and how. If you want change just for the sake of change, you’d better not be ugly and you better have the stomach for some mulch and dog turd stew.