The jury is still out on whether the Ann Arbor News’ transition to AnnArbor.com is an example of the kind of successful change Alan Deutschman describes in Change or Die or a way station en route to the eventual demise of economically-viable local journalism that is valued throughout the community.

Dennis Sparks/Contributor

Alan Deutschman’s Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life is a thought-provoking book that explains why it is difficult for people and organizations to change even when their very survival depends upon it (for instance, heart attack patients who ignore their doctors’ advice to improve their eating and exercise habits and to better manage their stress).

I found myself thinking about Change or Die on a recent walk that took me past the former Ann Arbor News building, Shaman Drum, and a number of empty offices and storefronts in which commercial life had ended. Those expired businesses reminded me of drives down rural roads past long-abandoned farmhouses and barns that left me wondering about their back stories—who built them, the families had lived there and worked the land across many decades, and the circumstances that lead to their eventual demise.

Each of these enterprises—farms and Ann Arbor businesses alike—began, undoubtedly, as an expression of someone’s dreams and thrived for decades through the hard work of individuals and their ability to successfully respond to numerous challenges, some of which may have threatened their very existence. And then something happened, and they exist no more.

That something may have been that the world changed in ways that made it impossible for them to survive. At other times, denial of the change was itself the problem, a “don’t worry, be happy” approach to a new reality. Sometimes the problem was that individuals or organizations significantly underestimated the amount of change required to survive or even preferred to risk “death” rather than change themselves.

What does and doesn’t work in responding to change Alan Deutschman’s reporting for Change or Die lead him to identify approaches to change that are life enhancing and those that are not. What doesn’t work, he says, is relying on facts (we humans are not as rational as we think we are), inducing fear, and applying force.

What does work, Deutschman argues, are three intertwined processes: forming sustained relationships with individuals and groups that provide hope and offer support, developing alternative ways of thinking about the problem, and practicing new ways of doing things until they become habits.

“People can change the deep-rooted patterns of how they think, feel, and act,” Deutschman observes, offering hope to those who are willing to accept the challenges of engaging in a meaningful and life-giving change process rather than denying or resisting the change.

My walk through downtown reminded me that the negative effects of some changes cannot be avoided. They must be endured and perhaps ultimately accepted. Other changes, though, can lead to new and more vital forms of life. Instead of the either/or choice of change or die we are offered the both/and possibility of change and thrive, as Deutschman concluded in his book. The choice is up to us.

Dennis Sparks’ “Things Observed” photos and essays encourage readers to slow down to deepen their appreciation of aspects of daily life that may sometimes elude awareness and to see familiar things in fresh ways. You can contact him at dennis.sparks@comcast.net.