The Director’s Chair

MOST OF US in Arkansas have heard the old saying, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes and it’ll change.” Another favorite is, “The only thing that is consistent in life is change.” Both of those old chestnuts are true, and not just in Arkansas. Change is inevitable, the law of life. The trick is how we respond to it. As Helen Keller said, “A bend in the road is not the end of the road…unless you fail to make the turn.”

This month’s newsletter explores the effects of change from a number of angles, all of them bearing to some degree on The Workforce. Every one of us—employers, job candidates, our Apprenticely staff and partners—has felt those changes over the past few years, from COVID-caused office shutdowns and remote work to today’s hybrid system, from pre-A.I. jobs to A.I.-Everything—including, lately, to A.I. screening you for one of those hybrid jobs.

When life brings changes in how we must do our work, it can get very personal very quickly. Our kneejerk response is often to resist, but that goes against the nature of life itself. As the Greek philosopher Socrates taught, thousands of years ago, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

The ability to control and manage change, whether changing ourselves or changing the way we work, begins with making a plan and continues with committing to see that plan through to completion. The articles in this issue offer many tips and clues to dealing effectively with the changes we’re all confronting, and we hope you find both answers and encouragement here.

As always, we welcome your comments and feedback.

–Bill Yoder
Executive Director