Guess What? People Change.

I was over 30 before I enjoyed my first coffee.

Until then I only drank tea, or nothing. But as my roles increasingly led to me meeting with a large variety of folks in a large variety of coffee shops, I finally got tired of my non-participation in the culture and vibe of the places I was spending a lot of time in.

Now, there would have been nothing wrong with standing firm in my non-coffee-ness. But as I hesitantly tried a few drinks, didn't enjoy them, and pushed through for a few weeks, I slowly started to acquire a taste for it.

(This picture is from this morning, as I enjoyed a nice cup to kick off my day - now a daily and deeply enjoyable part of my routine.)

This isn't about pushing through things until they click. Or about integrating yourself into the culture of the environments in which you find yourself, to offer mutual value. Nothing so complex. It's just about change: I used to not like coffee and now I do.

People are like that.

We change, grow, regress, shift, evolve, morph... all the time. And while the efficiency-drive of our brains wants to put people in tidy little immutable boxes, real life is not like that.

It takes empathy and real human connection to stay in touch with where your colleagues, bosses, reports, customers, and users are at. And the stakes are so much higher than serving coffee or tea. The success of our collaboration and working relationships depend on it.

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