It’s that time of year when the majority of the country “springs ahead” to daylight savings time while a few places stay on standard time. How long has it been since we looked at the effectiveness of daylight savings time? Does it really make a positive difference (outside of making sure our computers make the change when it’s time?) If so, why don’t we simply stay on daylight savings time all year round? Are we simply doing this because it has become tradition? Is the tradition really a good one? Do we even know why daylights savings time came into being? (For the history buffs and detail folks: The idea originated with Ben Franklin who thought it would be a good way to conserve energy while also taking advantage of some extra daylight in the evening.)
How much of what you do in your organization is tradition? Do people know the history and the reasons for that tradition? If not, why not take advantage of the teachable moment to take a good hard look at how things are done and implement effective changes as indicated? Change for the sake of change is not generally a good idea. Change because it’s needed for improved performance and effectiveness – give it a try.
