Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: Unprecedented.Historic.Record.Unparalleled.These words have all become ironically familiar in recent months, as journalists test the limits of the thesaurus while writing headlines describing the frenetic unpredictability of national and world events.We remain in the throes of a global pandemic, with the United States leading the world at nearly a quarter of the total number of cases and deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; The New York Times, n.d.) despite making up only slightly more than 4% of the world's population (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.).Our national economy is in disarray, with school systems (in P-12 and higher education) still disrupted and depending heavily on online instruction to keep students and staff safe (Whitford, 2020; Wise, 2020), while facing budget cuts that threaten our ability to carry on the programs we value (Dickler, 2020; Reist, 2020).At the same time, our country is experiencing political upheaval and questioning of democratic norms, while also grappling with deep-rooted questions about racial justice made visible through the public outcry and massive protests in response to police killings of Black Americans like George Floyd (Craig, 2020).Students-including music students (Latch & Oxnevad, 2020)-are issuing open letters and demanding transformation from leadership of colleges and universities.Change is clearly all around us, as is resistance to change.The unpredictability caused by events is a source of stress that can cause us to withdraw and try to avoid change, but that is not likely to be a successful strategy-change is happening.Instead, we (as individuals, as a profession, and as a professional Society) should be asking the questions: How can we deal with so much change, and what do we want to change into?An oft-cited source of advice in dealing with change in the business world is the book Who Moved My Cheese?(Johnson, 1998).The story is told as a parable about two mice and two metaphorical small humans who live in a maze, and who one day find their expected supply of cheese is gone.The author weaves a lesson in adaptability based on the mice's choice to immediately set out and find new cheese, while the humans struggle with fear, unknowing, and a desire for a return to normalcy that inhibit their need to change with their circumstances.There is certainly some good
Author: David A. Rickels
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Language: English
Subfield: Music
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3091937221