A change is as good as a rest - right?

The change curve is a model that details the emotions people feel when experiencing a change. It says people go through a fairly standard set of emotional responses, whoever they are and there are typically five stages of change:

1. Denial - immediately following a the initiation of change event, individuals often experience a stage of shock and denial
2. Resistance - most people start to resist the change, particularly if it’s a negative change. Individuals may become angry and divisive and will normally start blaming others for the changes taking place
3. Acceptance - individuals generally come to accept the change. Humans are quite elastic with their emotions over time and nearly everyone re-baselines themselves to whatever the new situation is
4. Exploration - having decided to accept the new future that the change will lead to, individuals start to explore that new future
5. Commitment - they can now commit to that future. The post change reality becomes normal for them, it’s just the way things are now, and they increasingly work towards making it a good outcome 

This is a model that is typically used in organisations during big changes but it definitely proves to be an interesting take when it comes to making updates to the local pub. And boy did we go through stages 1 & 2 in quick succession on Monday and all we did was paint a wall and a bit of wood panelling.

As you can see, the pub was dark wood and it has been for years. 17 years as one of the customers pointed out later (but this was in reference to it only being decorated in 2005).  It was too dark, the pub has one window, one door and with all that said it felt quite close, imposing and probably not as welcoming as we'd like. Come Monday we took a trip to B&Q, bought some wood paint and got cracking. By late afternoon having worked for a good few hours I'm upstairs having a shower and Lee comes up, he said to me "I couldn't stay down there any longer and listen to them saying it was too much". It turns out they even took to a vote "who prefers it better before or after". 

In my usual calm approach I finish getting ready, walk down the stairs and say "who's got a problem with the new paint". At that point it seemed that NOONE had a problem with the paint. What I think was most disheartening was that we were doing it for all the right reasons. Its our money, our time, our work and our love that drives us to run this pub, we ain't doing it for shits and giggles. Yes, there is a slight colour change in the pub but it's the same pub, the same people. This is still The Oddies and it always will be.

So we press ahead, forging through the complaints, criticism and opinions and get up 6am Tuesday to start sanding the bar back to the original wood. We work most of Tuesday in the pub, only breaking for tea and what a transformation. The bar is beautiful. It's oak and with clear varnish on it looks beautiful. It compliments the new coloured wood work (white and grey) and has really lifted the pub.

I know the locals fear change, people fear change but as a disrupter I have to be prepared for the resistance. But, given the progress Lee has made, the praise we're now getting and just how amazing the bar looks today I know that the end result will be perfect. And with just a few more coats of the bar, the walls and ceiling to do I'm hoping we'll be finished by the end of the weekend.