The Power of "Fresh Blood"

Never underestimate the power of "fresh blood."  I have been experiencing this first hand in more ways than one recently but the example that I'll talk about here is a community organization I do pro bono work for and power of the people who work hard for it.  

For the last few years in this group, volunteerism was low, members were frustrated or apathetic and the group had gained a reputation of being unorganized and a bit of a black hole. Enter stage left just a few fresh faces to the monthly Board Meetings last fall and things started to change. The change has been swift and impactful. The new people made some noise-- they asked a lot of questions, queried why things were done they way there were and brought in ideas to reinvent. Granted all the new ideas weren't winners but debate, action and new work has started to occur. Luckily this "fresh blood" didn't die off and kept coming back month after month and toiled on projects in-between meetings-- so much so that the leadership just had to stop saying "we've tried that before" and "we can't afford to do that."

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the people who had been running this group should be commended for the countless hours of thought, angst, caring and work they have put in over the years. But they also had made it known they were at the point of burnout and ready to spend their time elsewhere. I don't think they expected for change to happen as quickly as it has, but that can be the power of new.

You don't need to be at "burn-out" level by any means to benefit from new.  Perhaps you think everything is just fine when you look at the surface but to achieve greatly you also need to look deep within. If by any chance you feel like your business, club or organization is at cross-road, or if you take a close look and see that the same strategies, tactics, ideas are being recycled year after year-- maybe it's time for some fresh blood. Hire a consultant, writer, designer, motivational speaker or masseuse to come into the office and shake things up a bit. Yes, these things may not be in your budget but perhaps you can cut elsewhere to find the money for an investment in the new.  Testing out some fresh blood just might be what your company needs to thrive.