A Lesson In Change Management: I Upgraded My Toothbrush Way Too Late In Life
I didn’t know I had to actually put my electric toothbrush in my mouth!?!
I thought it was Bluetooth.
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I have always been a bit of a nut about my teeth. I am a regular at the dentist, going every three to four months, even when I was broke at university. I am a flosser* and brush my pearly whites more than a few times daily. I don’t have an affinity for foods (candy or sweets) that can wreak havoc on the teeth. I have never had a cavity or any dental work of any kind until quite late in life. So I thought I was doing just fine with a regular ole manual toothbrush.
Until “later in life dental work” came along. I commuted a few hours every weekday for over twenty-one years, and although I cherished the alone time in my car it took its toll because I was an unaware-grinder. This moved my lower teeth to a poor, backward angle and wore down the top teeth. I had to get full upper and lower metal braces, have my lower teeth pulled forward, and then veneers had to be put on for the ground-down uppers. Sounds fun, right?
All that work necessitated a whole new way of caring for my teeth. So, I finally moved to a battery-powered toothbrush to get around the braces better. Here in lies the change management lessons.
I was reluctant to move to a technology that I, for years, had heard would be beneficial. What I used was inexpensive, easy to maintain, and I thought was working fine.
It was the practice management spreadsheet of my dental program, if you will.
The first time I used it, I turned it on before putting it in my mouth, so of course, the paste went everywhere. I blamed the toothbrush, as many of us do when implementing a new technology. When, in fact, it was user error.
I implemented the wrong technology because I didn’t do my homework. I went with a less expensive model partly because it used batteries, and I didn’t want another charger lazing about our cabin. And because, well, I was kinda being a cheapskate.
I was spending a small fortune on dental work but decided not to go the last mile on a toothbrush?
Recently, though, I gave in to the 300th social media ad and bought Wirecutter’s best electric toothbrush article, the Oral-B Pro 1000. And whoa, doggie, is it amazing. I am kicking myself for not upgrading sooner, but better now than never.
But that’s how change management works, right?
Jumping fully into a new system or technology is rarely successful unless a current situation is completely untenable.
The reason to change has to be harder than the change itself.
Small steps, working our way up to the final glorious destination, is a process that can take time. We will be testing, tweaking, and playing around with the systems and technology until we get to a place we think is pretty great. Then, once we are comfortable, we can roll it out to clients and members.
I liked, but didn’t love my battery toothbrush. Now that I love-love my electric toothbrush and having learned to put the dang thing in my mouth before turning it on, I have successfully rolled it out to my very reluctant team member (aka: husband).
In business, change management is equally hard.
I have watched the pushback on cloud technology, both to manage and do client work and to run our businesses. I have long advocated that it will improve our lives and those of our team members and clients. I live in a bit of an echo chamber; the crowd I run with have embraced cloud technology and are now playing hard in the AI space. But I get that that is not the majority. There are a lot of accounting professionals and firms who are struggling to embrace all that cloud technology has to offer.
For you, I suggest:
Start small.
Fix the most pressing problems in the most simple way
Acknowledge some sunk costs will happen.
If you have given an app or process a fair chance, but it is causing more problems than solving them, investigate alternatives
It may take a few goes to find the best toothbrush for you
Get help.
Reach out to friends who have gone before you, join communities or pay for implementation
Involve your team and clients.
Don’t foist changes upon them and anticipate they will love them
Ensure they know the value for them
Designate a cheerleader, even if it is you.
They (you) will need an investment mindset rather than an expense one
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Utilize templates, free or paid and search for resources on how to get started in the technology
Most importantly, understand that setbacks may occur. Forge ahead even when your mirror gets splattered with toothpaste.
Kellie :-}
Speaking of change management, most of us need to change how and when we brush our teeth. We should not brush less than half an hour after eating because our enamel is soft and porous. We can floss, but no scrubby-scrubby. And we are not supposed to rinse after brushing because we wash the good stuff from our toothpaste away. So it’s rinse, floss, rinse, brush, no rinse. That’s a hard one, right?
Also, fun little note about my neighbourhood - we live on a point with twenty homes; four residents are dentists. None are my dentist, but when I cracked open my face mountain biking, one of them did a fabulous job stitching it back together.
*If you are not using those amazing little floss sticks with rubber tips, you are missing out. I keep them everywhere, like some folks do with chapsticks.
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Thursday, February 13, 2025
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