Why is change almost always a good thing?

Usually yes, it shakes us up, gets us out of our comfort zone, opens new horizons and lends opportunities to prove your adaptability and to stretch and grow. In the case of your boss, well, I imagine he felt that the changes he implemented would be of value, maybe not exactly to everyones liking, but, stirring things up is always better than stagnant inertia. lol

In that situation, I guess not. It depends on how the change affects people.

It’s good because people make it good. Change is a neutral thing. But it always comes along and then it’s up to us to decide how to respond to it. We can bitch and moan and live lives full of complaints and annoyance. Or we can embrace it and make the best of it.

Generally, if you make the best of something, you will feel happier about it. If you like happiness, that’s a good thing. If you don’t like happiness, then why not bitch and moan?

But my point is that good and bad are human things. There is nothing normative about nature. It just is. Nothing normative about what happens in life. Not until a human being makes a judgment. Personally, I prefer to try to enjoy change as much as possible. It just makes life easier.

Of course, sometimes there are changes that cause a lot of trouble and those can be worth fighting.

Don’t know if it is always good, but it is constant.

What in the world would drive you to such a sweeping – and utterly false – statement, @john65pennington? I realize that the text of your question belies the ludicrous “Big Question”, but… it’s still ludicrous.

There was a time when Native Americans had no idea that white men even existed. Was it a good change for them when they discovered otherwise?

There was a time when most Americans had never even heard of a place called Pearl Harbor. Was their awakening to the reality of that place necessarily good for them?

There was a time in recent memory when most of us just knew “Twin Towers” as a distinctive skyline element in the opening scenes of some movies, so that we could say, “Oh, the movie opens in Manhattan. Got that.” Was it a good thing to change the skyline of New York City in the way and to the extent that it was done?

When you get right down to it, change is all there is. Whenever we think something doesn’t change, it’s just that we aren’t really paying attention or looking closely enough.

Like @CWOTUS I have to question your basic assumption. Any type of change is just as likely to be negative as it is to be positive. It’s all relative.

Hell no it’s not always good. But just like Virginia weather, if you don’t like the change, stay. It’ll change again soon.

I’m not sure the subject question has much to do with the story.
The Chief exhibits classic dickhead manager style. He may have had some good ideas – on paper- but they aren’t good until thought through and discussed with the affected staff.
Some of those ideas might have gone over well if he got consensus. From the sound of it, he probably would have learned a lot if he’d discusses his ideas… and changed his mind.

Change that’s the result of good thinking, and planning, and willful action, can be great.
Change that’s just “Let’s try out my brain farts on the whole department ‘cause I’m in charge.” is no smarter than some dope looking at a hornet’s nest and considerring kicking it to see what will happen.

What an excellent analogy, @dabbler. First rate.

@john65pennington Obviously, as your details prove, change isn’t always a good thing. Perhaps the reason we seem to “think” that change is almost always good is that life almost always sucks, so change might make it better.