The secret of change is to focus our energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.

It’s fair to say that each and every day we’re all inundated with relentless stories of a world in apocalyptic free fall.

A global pandemic, poverty, war … and all manner of atrocities are flung at us from all directions. It’s enough to draw even the most light-hearted person into a pit of despair.

After a good deal of soul searching and inspired by the wise words of the renowned Indian teacher S.N.Goenka, who said, “The consequence of today is the result of our past. The consequence of our future is what we change today.” – I believe that a starting point to counteract the uncertainty and fragility of our world is to endeavour to “be the change” we want to see.

In VOIS and across Vodafone I see countless examples of small changes being made, which not only impact our colleagues but also the customers around the world for whom we serve.

None of us can change the entire world all by ourselves, but by making small changes to our behaviours in our own lives and workplaces, and encouraging others to do the same, a snowball effect occurs that can affect more change than we could ever imagine.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope to share the importance of why “change” in all aspects of our business matters to me personally. But as a preface to those posts, it is important to recognise that as change sweeps through every facet of our world, the need to listen, learn and flex is an imperative.

Whilst there is no doubting the significant change that technology has had on every aspect of how business operates, to use a computing term, we all need?“HACK” to create the right environment for change to flourish.

First of all, we need Honesty. Not brutal honesty but Honesty with Appreciation for the complexity of the issues we’re all facing and the difficulty we face navigating a pathway to positive change. We also need Compassion for our colleagues, encouraging them to embrace and see change as an opportunity not a threat. And finally, we need Kindness. Too often we can be dismissive of new ideas, adopting the “not invented here” behaviour which negates and resists change.

Our _VOIS manifesto says it all: The world doesn’t stand still and neither do we.

We’re navigating a pace of change around us that requires us to constantly move forward and build the new - whether it’s new ways of working, new systems or new partnerships. As we listen to our people, evolve the employee experience and adopt the HACK approach, this commitment creates the foundation for us to power change at scale and speed for our partners across Vodafone, our industry and our customers. Let’s begin today …bring on the change!