I was listening to Freakonomics Radio podcast interview with Rahm Emanuel, who pointed out his somewhat famous quote is often shortened. Here is the full quote:

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”

Rahm Emanuel

I have taken this to heart in making changes at work, which means taking some professional risks. These are not substantial personal risks—they are trivial in the grand scheme of things, but meaningful to a small group of people where we can make work better. I am grateful that others have supported these changes.

We should not need a crisis to initiate change, and many managers have more authority to make changes than they think. We should want to make things better—always.