Changes in attitudes our biggest challenge: if change is such a good thing, why can't we embrace it?

"CHANGE IS GOOD!" At least that's what everyone says. But if change really is good, then why is it so darn difficult?

Something as simple as altering day-to-day habits often seems impossible, even when the change will be good for you. How many people commit to quit smoking only to find not smoking more difficult than smoking? The same is true with eating healthy and exercising.

As tough as it is to change habits, changing behavior is even tougher.

We all know people who are abrasive or abusive in the manner they treat co-workers or family members. But some people find it just too difficult to change how they behave, even when they realize such a change would help their working and living relationships. So they don't change, and the abusive behavior continues.

Change is often difficult to initiate and even more difficult to sustain. Everyone in our industry can look around at examples of companies that have not changed with the times. The large U.S. fabricators who ruled a few short years ago are for the most part no longer in business. Equally, too many of the technology leaders of the past are the "me, too" companies of today. For all these companies, change--or no change--was not good.

Meanwhile the global leaders of today, to a large degree, were minor players or not even in business a decade ago. The technology and service trendsetters of today are utilizing marketing and logistics tools as well as process technologies that were not available in 1995. For these companies, change has been very good!

Times change and paradigms shift--that is a fact of life. What makes individuals and businesses successful is if and how we handle change. So how do you do it? More to the point, how do you encourage and lead the people around you--the people who will help you celebrate success or whine to you about failure--to change?

Leading by example is a good place to begin. Start out by not trying to implement massive, all-encompassing changes, but focus on the little things that are easier to handle and contribute to the overall foundation for change. Small acts of change are in many ways like random acts of kindness--simple, sweet and successful--and they can be the sparks that set change in motion.

Why not set a goal of zero litter throughout your workplace and property? Or you could simply thank every person who helps you finish a task better, faster and more successfully. Picking up litter or saying a few kind words can begin the trend toward change. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not always. Does it require someone to first take the initiative and then consistently work at it? Absolutely!

Small actions can begin the process of change. But change is as much attitude as it is effort. Some of the biggest changes that affect your business require changing your attitude. It's easy to pick up litter if your attitude is committed to improvement. It is equally easy to change your company's business model if your attitude allows you to break from the current norm and think outside the box.

In our industry, some of today's most successful businesses are successful because their leadership and employees embraced change together. Despite tough economic conditions, these companies continually enjoy increased sales and profits. Their leaders and employees have the attitude and commitment to try new approaches, and to invest time and talent refining processes and implementing new technologies.

Some of the leading companies in our industry have harnessed the Internet as a powerful selling tool, focusing with a vengeance on leaning out the manufacturing processes so more can be produced for less with the same or fewer resources, and taking advantage of globalization instead complaining about it.

These changes could have been embraced by all of us, but it was those with determination to control their destinies--to take positive action to change how they operate--who are reaping the benefits.

Whether improving ourselves or our businesses, it is essential to have an open attitude and the conviction to embrace the future and take action. To profitably grow requires stepping up to the plate and leading the change around you. Whether dieting or analyzing a new business strategy, there is no time like the present to begin the process of change.

PETER BIGELOW is president and CEO of IMI (www.imipcb.com). He can be reached at [e-mail].