Two Things You Need

The two things you need to make it through hard times are grace and peace. These two are powerful forces in the life of the believer. Grace empowers us, and peace directs us. It’s like this: grace is the petrol and peace is the navigation system. You need both to reach your destination.

Scripture says that we are saved by God’s grace through faith. We don’t deserve it and can’t do anything to earn His grace, but He gives it to us anyway. Grace opens the door to salvation, but it doesn’t stop there. His grace is also supernatural empowerment to live the life God has called us to here on earth.

Today, know that peace is every bit as powerful as grace. It’s not just a feeling; it’s a state of being. Peace literally means “to set at one again.” When we are at one with the Father in thought, word and deed, we can physically feel it on the inside. We are settled internally, and nothing external can move us from our position of peace. Today, receive God’s grace and peace and let them carry you through the life of victory He has ordained for you!

“May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.” (2 Thessalonians 1:2, NLT)

Let’s PrayYahweh, thank You for Your grace and peace in my life. Father, I choose to stand and follow Your Word. God, thank You for guiding me during this year. I receive the life of blessings You have prepared for me, in Christ’ name! Amen.

One Day At A Time

God's grace is His undeserved, unearned and unmerited favour

I always thought that grace was unmerited favour, but recently I’ve learned it’s also God’s supernatural empowerment on your life. Throughout Scripture, we see God giving daily grace, power, and provision to His people. When the people of Israel were in the wilderness headed toward the Promised Land, God gave them manna each morning to eat. It would just appear on the ground. But, He specifically instructed them to gather up enough for that day only. In fact, if they gathered more than that, it would spoil. God was teaching them to trust His grace and that He would bless them every single day. 

God doesn’t give us grace for a year at a time, or even a month at a time. Oh no! Every day God has a fresh supply of grace, favour, blessings, wisdom and forgiveness.  

Today, you may be wondering how are you going to make it through this season in your life? One day at a time. Look for His grace today. Look for His provision today. Look for His hand of favour, because God promises to supply everything that you need just for today! 

“Give us this day our daily bread…” (Matthew 6:11, NKJ) 

Let’s Pray 

Yahweh, I thank You today for Your grace and favour. Father, I know that You have a fresh supply of everything that I need physically, spiritually and emotionally, I receive them today. God, help me to trust You more as I seek Your face daily. In Christ’s Name!  Amen.

Has Nigeria Become the World’s Junk Yard of Abandoned and Failed Mega Projects worth Billions?

Dim1, N. U., Okorocha2, K. A., & Okoduwa3 V. O.

The Nigerian construction industry is mostly concerned with the development and provision of projects such as roads, bridges, railways, residential  and commercial real estates, and the  maintenance necessary for the socio-economic developments contributes immensely to the Nigerian economic growth (Bureau of Statistics, 2015). Butcher and demmers (2003) described projects as an idea which begins and ends by filling a need. However, a project fails when its idea ends without meeting the needs and expectations of its stakeholders.

Nigeria Has Become the World’s Junk – Yard of Abandoned and Failed Projects worth Billions of Naira!

Hanachor (2013), revealed that projects form part of the basis for assessing a country’s development. However,  a damming  report from the Abandoned Projects Audit Commission which was set up by the Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 revealed that 11,886 federal government projects were abandoned in the past 40 years across Nigerian  (Abimbola, 2012). This confirmed the assertion by Osemenan (1987) “that Nigeria has become the world’s junk –yard of abandoned and failed projects worth billions of naira”.

Abandoned projects including building and other civil engineering infrastructure development projects now litter  the  whole of Nigeria.

Physical projects do not only provide the means of making life more meaningful for members of the community where the projects are located, successful  projects also  result in  empowerment and collective action towards self improvement (Hanachor, 2013).  

This Issue of Abandonment Has Been Left Without Adequate Attention for Too Long, and Is Now Having a Multiplier Effect on the Construction Industry in Particular and the Nigeria’s National Economy as a Whole. (Kotngora, 1993)

PROJECT FAILURE

Project Failure might mean a different thing to different stakeholders. A project that seemed successful to one stakeholder may be a total failure to another (Toor and Ogunlana, 2008). Some stakeholders, more especially the project users and some private owners, think of failed projects as a situation where a completed building project collapsed, a situation where by a completed dam project stopped working after few days of completion, or a completed road project that broke down after few months of completion. Other experienced stakeholders, such as engineers  and  architects  conform to the iron triangle by Atkinson (1999) which states that the most strategically important measures of project failure are “time overrun”, “cost overrun”, and “poor quality”.

Turner (1993) noted that a project fails when the project specifications are not delivered within budget and on time;   the project fails to achieve its stated business purpose; the project did not meet the pre-stated objectives; the project fails to satisfy the needs of the project team and supporters; and the project fails to satisfy the need of the users and other stakeholders. Lim and Mohamed (1999) cited in Toor and Ogunlana (2009) clarified that there are two possible view points to project failure namely; the macro-level and the micro-level. They further explained that the macro view point reviews  if the original objectives and concepts of the project was met. Usually the end users and the project beneficiaries are the ones looking at the project failure from the macro view point, where as the project design team, the consultants, contractors, and suppliers review projects from a micro view point focusing on  time of delivery, budget, and poor quality.  

In the early 1990s, the failure as well as the success of any project was determined by the project duration, monetary cost, and the performance of the project (Idrus, Sodangi, and Husin, 2011). Belout and Gauvrean (2004), also confirmed that the project management triangle based on schedule, cost, and technical performance is the most useful in determining the failure of a project. Moreover, a project is considered as an achievement of specific objectives, which involves series of activities and tasks which consume resources, are completed within specifications, and have a definite start and end time (Muns and Bjeirmi 1996, cited in Toor and Ogunlana, 2009). Reiss (1993) in his suggestion stated that a project is a human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale. Wright (1997) taking the view of clients, suggested that time and budget are the only two important parameters of a project which determines if a project is successful or failed. Nevertheless, many other writers such as Turner, Morris and Hough, wateridge, dewit, McCoy, Pinto and Slevin, saarinen and Ballantine all cited in Atkinson (1999), agreed that cost, time, and quality are all success as well as failure criteria of a project, and are not to be used   exclusively.

FACTORS OF PROJECT FAILURE

Cookie-Davies (2002) stated the difference between the success criteria and the failure factors. He   stated that failure factors are those which contributed towards the failure of a project while success criteria are the measures by which the failure of a project will be judged. The factors constituting the failure criteria are commonly referred to as the key performance indicators (KPIs).  

Time   and Cost Overrun

The time factor of project failure cannot be discussed without mentioning cost. This is because the time spent on construction projects has a cost attached to it. Al-Khali and Al-Ghafly, (1999); Aibinu and Jagboro, (2002) confirmed that time overrun in construction projects do not only result in cost overrun and poor quality but also result in greater disputes, abandonment and protracted litigation by the project parties. Therefore, focus on reducing the Time overrun helps to reduce resource spent on heavy litigation processes in the construction industry (Phua and Rowlinson, 2003). Most times, the time overrun of a project does not allow resultant system and benefits of the project to be taking into consideration (Atkinson, 1999). Once a project exceeds the contract time, it does not matter anymore if the project was finally abandoned or completed at the same cost and quality specified on the original contract document, the project has failed. Furthermore, Assaf and Al-Hejji, (2006) noted that time overrun means loss of owner’s revenue due to unavailability of the commercial facilities on time, and contractors may also suffers from higher over heads, material and labour costs.

Poor quality/Technical Performance

The word “Performance” has a different meaning which depends on the context it is being used and it  can also be referred to as quality. Performance can be generally defined as effectiveness (doing the right thing), and efficiency (doing it right) (Idrus and Sodangi, 2010). Based on this definition of performance, at the project level, it simply means that a completed project  meets fulfilled the stakeholder  requirements in the business case.

CAUSES OF PROJECT FAILURE

A lot of research studies have investigated the reasons for project failures, and why projects continue to be described as failing despite improved  management. Odeh and Baltaineh, 2002; Arain and   Law, 2003; Abdul-Rahman et al., 2006; Sambasivan and Soon, 2007; all cited in Toor and Ogunlana, 2008, pointed out the major causes of project failures as Inadequate procurement method; poor funding and availability of resources; descripancies between design and construction; lack of project management practices; and communication lapses

The contract/procurement method

A result obtained from two construction projects which were done by the same  contractor but using different procurement methods showed that rework, on the design part which occurs when the activities and materials order are different from those specified on the original contract document, makes it difficult for the project to finish on the expected time (Idrus, Sodangi, and Husin, 2011). This is as a result of non-collaboration and integration between the design team, contractor, and tier suppliers. The rework on the design portion has a huge impact on  project failure leading to the time overrun.  The traditional method of procurement has inadequate  flexibility  required  to facilitate late changes to  the project design once the design phase of the construction project has been concluded.

Nigerian most widely used procurement method is the traditional method of procurement (design-bid-construct) which has been confirmed to be less effective to successfully delivery of a construction project (Dim and Ezeabasili, 2015). And, the world bank country procurement assessment report (2000) cited in Anigbogu and Shwarka, (2011) reported that about 50% of projects in Nigeria are dead even before they commence because they were designed to fail.

The way the construction projects are contracted, in addition to the way the contracts are delivered, contributes to the causes of projects failure. Particularly, among the methods of project contracting is lump-sum or a fixed-price contracting method, in which the contractor agrees to deliver a construction project at a fixed price. The fixed-price contract can be low-bid or not however, once the contract cost has been agreed upon the contract award, it cannot be changed. And, contractors are expected to honor and deliver the contract agreement, failure to do so can result  in a  breach of contract which can result in the contractor being  prosecuted.  

Awarding a contract to an unqualified personnel also contributes to project failures. When a contractor places more emphasis on money and the mobilization fee after a construction project has been initiated instead of getting the right workforce and skilled professionals that will execute the project. Instead the workforce chosen will often not be base on competence and required skills rather it will be based on availability. Moreover, poor strategy and planning by contractors who have overloaded with work  also contributed to one of the causes of project failure.

Poor funding/Budget Planning

A lot of public projects in the Nigerian construction industry failed as a result inadequate funding, and the difference between the national annual budget and the budget actual released. Most of the Nigerian public projects are signed  even before the actual release of the national budget. The difference in budget of the contracted project and the actual budget release can get the contracted company stuck as a result of inflation of prices, scarcity of construction material at the time of the budget release and mobilization to site. Also  un-planned scope of work which can be as a result of the contractor working on another contract when he is called back  to  mobilization to start work. Moreover, poor budget planning is a regular mistake made by some contractors by not undertaking feasibility assessments  before starting the design. The construction project should be planned according to the available resources and not according to the unrealistic expectations a  client has in mind.

Discrepancies  Between the Design and Construction

Limited  collaboration between the contractors, engineers, and the architect results in discrepancies between the project designs and construction on site, and further leads to rework. Changes on a project designs, and changing to the scope of work in the middle of construction processes on site can be dangerous, and can lead to time overrun, increase in cost, and most of all can lead to abandonment. Moreover, many cases have been seen where the designs from the architects are not buildable  on site, while   In some cases, most contractors are unable to adequately specify the scope of work for the construction processes on site. Therefore any default on the design by the architect can be an opportunity for the contractor to make more money which might cause the project duration to exceed the time specified on the contract document.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research starts with a general reasoning or theory which says that the major cases of project failure in the Nigerian construction industry are defined based on time overrun and cost overrun. The findings from the data analysis will help on the decision to accept the theory or not. The research data was collected from the progress report for the month ending of October, 2015 published by the Nigeria of Federal Ministry of works on thirty-nine on-going highway construction projects at the South-South geopolitical zone. The table 1 below shows the information on the data collected which comprises of the project title, contract Number, project description, the contractor that was awarded the projects, the date of project commencement, date of completion and the extended date if any. The scheduled time for each project was specified as follows: project commencement date labeled as “a”,   project completion date labeled as “b”, and the extended date labeled as “c”.

Table 1: The analyzed data on the highway project at the South-South zone in Nigeria.
Table 1: The analyzed data on the highway project at the South-South zone in Nigeria.

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DATA ANALYSIS

The data analysis was done with the use of Microsoft excel. The analysis started by obtaining the number of days between the date of commencement of each project and the date of completion to show the duration of each highway project. And, the number of days between the project completion date and the extension date showed the time-overrun. The project duration and the extended days were obtained with the use of NETWORKDAYS function in Microsoft Excel which calculates the number of working days between two dates excluding weekends and any dates identified as holidays.

The standard deviation between the specified project duration for each highway projects and the extended days was calculated to obtain the extent to which each highway project contract failed on its time of delivery. This was denoted as the degree of failure. The table 1 above showed the projects ranking which was done based on the degree of failure of all the highway projects. The highway projects that were ranked from one to sixteen have low degree of failure and are represented with green color, while the rest are those with high degree of failure and are represented with red color.

FINDINGS

The findings made showed that the successfully completed highway projects have no extended days or time overrun, and the successful on-going highway projects are still on schedule and have no extended days unlike the on-going highway projects that have already failed as a result of the extended dates. Other projects have been abandoned because they have exceeded the delivery date as specified on the contract document, and have no extended date of completion. Thus, no work is going on.

Figure 1: Abundance of failed highway projects at south-south zone, Nigeria.
Figure 1: Abundance of failed highway projects at south-south zone, Nigeria.

Figure 2: On-going failed highway projects
Figure 2: On-going failed highway projects

Figure 2 above showed that 14% of highway projects are still on-going projects because they have not exceeded the original date of completion as specified on the contract document. However, they are heading towards failure because they have been given an extended date of completion which can be as a result of some critical activities running behind schedule, causing delay on the critical path network of the projects. Moreover, the other 86% completely failed because they have exceeded their completion date specified on the contract document.

Figure 3: Successful on-going highway projects
Figure 3: Successful on-going highway projects

The figure 3 above showed that 63% of the successful highway projects are still on-going because they have not exceed their completion dates, and they are not yet completed. However, those on-going highway projects might end up as failed projects as a result of poor funding, discrepancy between the design and the construction on site, and conflict between the construction parties or stakeholders.

“Say what you will do, and do what you said” or “Say as you will do it, and do it as you said”

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The idea of knowing what a failed project is, the factors and the causes is very important in project management. Success in project management can neither be achieved nor measured without the knowledge of project failure, its factors, and causes in the Nigerian construction industries. This work has shown that project failure is as a result of exceeded time of delivery, cost overrun, and poor quality. However, the analysis was only done based on exceeded time of project delivery because of the nature of the data collected.

This work suggested a few approaches to help reduce the number of failed projects in the Nigerian construction industry if properly implemented. Firstly, Having good collaboration between the project stakeholders involved in a construction project at the early stage of project conception is most important in order to accomplish the project objectives, and deliver the project on time, within budget, and quality specified on the original contract document (Othman, 2006).

Secondly, Adopting the ISO 9000 technique which is used for quality management will also help in achieving a successful project delivery. This technique states “ say what you will do, and do what you said” or “say as you will do it, and do it as you said”. This technique is not an indication of high quality but it promotes control and consistency which leads to specialization, and improved productivity and quality. Also, adopting the principles of lean construction will help to reduce waste within the construction and stream-line activities in order to improve the on-time delivery of projects.

Thirdly, Learning from the precedent failed projects, how those projects failed, and the reason for their failures. This will help the project manager  to plan and mitigate the risks of project failures in the future. And, finally, more seminars and workshops will help to educate and enlighten clients (the federal government representatives), users, contractors, engineers, and architects on what is project failure, the factors that contributes to abundant failed projects, and their causes.

REFERENCE

Abimbola, A. (Novermber 24, 2012). About 12,000 Federal Projects Abandoned across Nigeria. Premium times (November 16, 2015). Retrieved from www. Premium timesng.com/news/108450-about-12000-federal-projects-abandoned-across-nigeria.html.

Al-Khali, M.I and Al-Ghafly, M.A. (1999). Important Causes of Delays in Public Utility Projects in Saudi Arabia. Construction management and Economics, 17, 647-655

Aibinu, A.A and Jagboro, G.O. (2002). The Effects of Construction Delays on Project Delivery in Nigeria Construction Industry. International journal of Project management, 20(8), 593- 599.

Anigbogu, N. and Shwarka, M. (2011). Evaluation of Impact of the Public Procurement Reform Program on Combating Corruption Practices in Public Building Project Delivery in Nigeria. Environtech Journal, 1(2). 43-51.

Assaf, S. and Al-Hajji, S. (2006). Causes of Delays in large Construction Projects. International Journal of Project Management, 24, 349-357.

Atkinson , R. (1999). Project management: Cost, time, and quality, two best guesses and a Phenomenon, it’s time to accept other success criteria. International Journal of project Management, 17(6), 337-342.

Belout, A and Gauvrean, C. (2004). Factors Influencing the Project Success: The impact of human resource management. International Journal of project Management, 22, Pp. 1-11.

Butcher, N. and Demmers, L. (2003). Cost Estiumating Simplified. Retrieved from www.librisdesign.org.

Cookie-Davies, T. (2002). The Real Success Factors on Projects. International Journal of Project management, 20(3), 185-190.

Dim, N.U. and Ezeabasili, A.C.C (2015). Strategic Supply Chain Framework as an Effective Approach to Procurement of Public Construction Projects in Nigeria. International Journal of Management and Susutainability, 4(7), 163-172.

Hanachor, M. E. (2012). Community Development Projects Abandonment in Nigeria: Causes and Effects. Journal of Education and Practice, 3(6), 33-36.

Idrus, A., Sodangi, M., and Husin, M., H. (2011). Prioritizing project performance criteria within client perspective. Research Journal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology, 3(10), 1142-1151.

Idrus, A. and Sodangi, M. (2010). Framework for evaluating quality performance of contractors in Nigeria. International Journal of Civil Environment and Engineering. 10(1), 34-39.

National Bureau of Statistics (January, 2015). Nigerian Construction Sector Summary Report: 2010-2012.

Kotangora, O. O. (1993). Project abandonment, Nigerian Tribune.

Osemenan, I. (1987). Project Abandonment. New Watch Magazine, Vol. 1, pp. 15.

Othman, M.,R. (2006). Forging main and sub-contractor relationship for successful projects. Retrieved from http://rakanl.jkr.gov.my/csfj/editor/files/file/projek/lessonslearned/MAIN&SUB_2.pdf

Phua, F.T.T and Rowlinson, S. (2003). Cultural Differences as an Explanatory Variable for Adversarial Attitude in the Construction Industry: The case of HongKong. Construction Management and Economics, 21, 777-785.

Reiss, B. (1993). Project Management Demystified. London: E and FN Spon Publishers.

Toor, S. R. and Ogunlana, S. O. (2008).Problems causing Delay in Major Construction Projects in Thailand. Construction management and Economics, 26, 395-408.

Toor, S. R. and Ogunlana, S. O. (2008). Critical COMs of Success in Large-Scale Construction Projects: Evidence from Thailand constructuction industry. International Journal of Project management, 26(4), 420-430.

Toor, S. R. and Ogunlana, S. O. (2009).Beyound the “Iron Triangle”: Stakeholder perception of key performance indicators (KPIs) for large-scale public sector development projects. International Journal of Project management, doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2009.05.005.

Toor, R. and Ogunlana, S. (2009). Construction Innovation: Information, process, management. 9(2), PP. 149-167.

Turner, J. R. (1993). The Handbook of project-Based Management: Improving the process for achieving strategic objective. London, McGraw-Hill.

Wright, J., N. (1997). Time and Budget: The twin imperatives of a project Sponsor. International Journal of Project Management, 15(3), 181-186.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Agile Methodologies

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Agile Methodologies

The “agile” buzzword has really taken hold among a myriad organisations worldwide. That result is not particularly surprising. Who wouldn’t love to employ light and fast tactics that allow them to respond to rapidly changing challenges? Despite all the optimism about agile methods, the bigger question is how well companies are actually doing when it comes to employing these methodologies in the real world. Without understanding what the core objectives of embracing agile methods are, it’s not going to be easy to gain results.

Agile methodology is employed in order to reduce the time, risk, and cost that is associated with a project. However, these massive benefits are not going to materialise out of thin air. They are the result of the dedicated work of a team who is well versed in implementing the methodology.

To become “agile” will require organisations to take a quantum leap in their culture. They will have to embrace the entire philosophy behind these methods or no real change will take place. Truly agile companies are the ones that have gone through a transformative process in order to implement brand new processes that say goodbye to the past. This takes a lot of work and effort and not all organisations are willing or able to do this.

Ugly Agile Implementations

Project teams that are solely focused on results and who don’t do their homework end up with very ugly agile implementations. These teams are so excited about agile as a concept that they convert everyone in their organisation into adopting the methods. The problem is, they do not spend the requisite time getting everyone on board with exactly what needs to be done.

Because of this oversight, the projects are plagued with poor communications and engagement. The project team and others in the organisation are each working on their own tasks with no thought to how the pieces fit together in the “big picture.” This is a major problem because agile methods really only shine when the whole organisation works as one well-oiled unit. In this scenario, major issues at the core of the project are neglected and the entire project goes off the rails. This leaves a bad taste in the mouths of managers, who are no longer excited about agile methods.

Really ugly agile implementations have the wrong focus. Because of this myopia, the true benefits of agile employment are never realised. Before long, things, unfortunately, go back to “normal.”

Bad Agile Implementations

Some businesses completely miss the boat when it comes to agile deployment. They’re interested in receiving the benefits of reduced costs, faster time to market, and cutting “red tape.” Despite this knowledge, they’re not truly committed to the all of the values that are espoused by the Agile Manifesto. Without this commitment, they cannot possibly hope to fully embrace a functional implementation.

Organisations like to invest in education and communications, but they ignore important concepts like utilising the tools that help them truly embrace agility. They even form teams that understand cross-functionality, but without empowerment they are unable to make vital decisions.

Lastly, organisations that do poor agile implementations perform project reviews regularly enough, but the input from the meetings is never acted on by anyone. The key issues that are preventing proper implementation are never properly addressed and the project fails on its promise. Organisation members swear off the agile methods forever at this point.

Good Agile Implementations

When business personnel and IT staff work together, good implementations of agile are the result. These units work together so that a project delivery methodology is presented to the organisation that meets its needs. They also spend the time to create the cultural changes needed to ensure the methods are successful.

In organisations like this, team members, business end users, along with senior management and key stakeholders received a continuous education that empowers them all. Cross-functional teams that excel are the results. These organisations also invest in the techniques and tools that fully support agile. That includes test driven development, continuous builds, new standards, and more. With these in place, a platform that ensures long-term success will be installed.

Particularly telling, these businesses conduct regular project reviews which they conceptualise as opportunities to improve instead of something that simply has to be done. When change is needed, they embrace it and plan for it. When it arrives, they are ready and the organisation continues to excel. A sign of a good agile implementation is when the organisation is  commits to making long-term changes that will benefit the methodology in the long run.

It doesn’t pay to underestimate just how difficult implementing good agile really is. Since major internal changes to how project delivery is done need to be embraced, the road ends up being a challenging one. Traditional managers will be challenged because empowered teams now have more input than ever before.

Once a good agile implementation is in place, the benefits are obvious and plentiful. An energised, cross-functional community of empowering people who are all focused on common goals get more done than ever before. Good implementation put platforms into use that improve project delivery because they allow for test-driven development, continuous integration, standards implementation, and best practice design applications.

34 Thought Provoking Change Management Quotes

Change is good. It’s also often hard. The status quo can be so much more comfortable. But to succeed in business, you must run toward change.  Companies most likely to be successful in making change work to their advantage are the ones that no longer view change as a discrete event to be managed, but as a constant opportunity to evolve the business

Here are 34 thought provoking change management quotes:

  1. It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change —  Charles Darwin
  2. One key to successful leadership is continuous personal change. Personal change is a reflection of our inner growth and empowerment — Robert E. Quinn
  3. Change before you have to — Jack Welch
  4. You must embrace change before change erases you.
    — Rob Liano
  5. Change before you have to — Jack Welch
  6. Too few leaders have the emotional fortitude to take responsibility for failure.
    — Paul Gibbons, The Science of Successful Organisational Change: How Leaders Set Strategy, Change Behaviour, and Create an Agile Culture
  7. People don’t resist change. They resist being changed! — Peter Senge
  8. If you want to make enemies, try to change something — Woodrow Wilson
  9. The key to change is to let go of fear — Rosanne Cash
  10. The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress — Charles Kettering
  11. There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things — Niccolo Machiavelli
  12. Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future — John F. Kennedy
  13. Even those who fancy themselves the most progressive will fight against other kinds of progress, for each of us is convinced that our way is the best way.
    — Louis L’Amour
  14. Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times — Niccolo Machiavelli
  15. Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers and business — Mark Sanborn
  16. Change your thoughts and you change your world — Norman Vincent Peale
  17. If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less —  General Eric Shinseki (U.S. Army Chief of Staff, 1999-2003)
  18. We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn — Peter Drucker
  19. Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times
  20. — Niccolo Machiavelli
  21. All is connected, no one thing can change by itself
    — Paul Hawken
  22. Learn to adjust yourself to the conditions you have to endure, but make a point of trying to alter or correct conditions so that they are most favorable to you — William Frederick Book
  23. We would rather be ruined than change
  24. We would rather die in our dread than climb the cross of the moment  and let our illusions die  — W. H. Auden
  25. Every generation needs a new revolution  — Thomas Jefferson
  26. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has  — Margaret Mead
  27. I’ll go anywhere as long as it’s forward  — David Livingstone
  28. Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself  — George Bernard Shaw
  29. Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win— Max McKeown
  30. You can’t build an adaptable organization without adaptable people–and individuals change only when they have to, or when they want to — Gary Hamel
  31. People will try to tell you that all the great opportunities have been snapped up. In reality, the world changes every second, blowing new opportunities in all directions, including yours — Ken Hakuta
  32. A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it — Chinese Proverb
  33. The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change — Bill Clinton
  34. Each of us has the opportunity to change and grow until our very last breath. Happy creating — M.F. Ryan

Change or die? we  choose life! How about you?  

 

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