Going with the flow is easy. It’s easy to sit back and watch things play out when we don’t want to get involved. It’s easy to keep things in equilibrium and refuse to stir the waters. It’s easy to let bad things happen if a precedent has been set.
This past week I had a chance to hear a talk from Colonel John Venable, a former officer in the United States Air Force. John shared stories of his experience in the military, and he specifically highlighted a few stories about his challenges when stepping in to new positions.
John was the leader of the Thunderbirds—a prestigious wing of the military that, for a long time, thought they were above the rules. He wasn’t ok with that—and he was dedicated to changing things.
John forced his guys to start “coloring inside the lines”—playing by the rules that were disobeyed for so long. His changes were unpopular. He changed the culture of a team that had been cultivated for many years. He put his career in jeopardy for doing the right thing. Today, he has no regrets about any of his tough decisions.
John had to deal with unbelievable conflict and disgusting politics within his own team. It would have been much easier for him to sit back instead of standing up.
Isn’t it always that way? When someone does something you know is wrong, doesn’t the thought of just letting it slide always run through your head? You think to yourself, “I know that’s wrong, but I hate confrontation. I’ll just let it go this time, but if it happens again…”
And then it happens again. And again. And it gets easier and easier to let it go. You don’t stand up. You watch things you know are wrong happen over and over, and you become desensitized to it. You become numb to the iniquity.
When you know something is wrong, something that has happened for a long time or something you recently became aware of, you have two choices. You can watch the wrongs occur. Take the easy way out and say nothing. You can stand still, knowing something is amiss and keep your mouth shut because you’re too scared to challenge it.
Or you can stand up and call it out. Yell at the top of your lungs that it’s wrong and you’re not going to take it. Challenge the norm, swim upstream, shake things up. Do it because it’s right, not because it’s painless. Will it be hard? Absolutely. Will you regret it? Not a chance.
When you know something is wrong don’t just stand around and witness it. Do something. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of