Why Swim Upstream?

I have always been fascinated (really) by the life cycle of the salmon, especially the part of their life cycle when they swim out of the ocean and travel miles upstream in order to spawn. For those of you unfamiliar with this process, here’s a quick explanation, courtesy of the “How It Works” website:

Salmon eggs are laid in freshwater streams typically at high latitudes. They live in rivers for about two years before making their way out to sea. After spending one to five years out in the ocean, they return to the same river where they were born using chemical cues and battle their way upstream to the spawning areas - the idea being that if the area was good enough for them, it will be good enough for their offspring.

One of the reasons this process fascinates me is because, well, it seems so difficult. Check out the video below of some salmon trying to move upward against some pretty fast (downward) flowing water.



Can't see the video? Click here.

It doesn’t seem like a walk in the park, does it?

This kind of behavior isn’t limited to salmon. Every day in our field, and indeed right here at Imagine!, I see employees who fight to go upstream just because “that is the way we’ve always done it.”

I’d like to state for the record that I don’t think that constantly struggling to go upstream is an effective approach to finding new and innovative ways to serve some of our most vulnerable citizens. We don’t have to fight the current all the time, just because that’s the way we did it last time. In fact, it is usually a heck of a lot easier to go with the flow of the water and to let the river guide us as we move forward.

In order to make that happen, however, we need to establish an organizational culture that is based on learning. A culture of curiosity. We must be skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge. The words “change” or “training” send a shiver up my spine. Learning on the other hand, is soothing to me. Chances to do something better, more effectively, more intelligently, and more easily. What’s the by-product of learning? Change.

Change is difficult if you view it as an action and you are constantly trying to fight it; you are constantly trying to swim upstream. But we don’t have to constantly swim upstream. We can do better than salmon functioning strictly on instinct and chemical cues. We can embrace the flow of the river and take the path of least resistance, accumulating new knowledge, skills, tools, and strengths along the way. And the result is … change.

I encourage all Imagine! employees, and all those who work in the field of serving individuals with intellectual disabilities, to embrace a culture of curiosity and learning. To never even consider saying something along the lines of, “I don’t want to learn this new thing.” In the long run, it is easier to learn than it is to resist, and with new knowledge we have the possibility of making our own lives, and the lives of those we serve, so much better.

Then again, what do I know?