Counting Change

(& not the kind found between sofa cushions)

December always invites reflection. It’s also the month in which I’ve made some of the most significant changes in my career. This December marks two years since I stepped down as CEO of the educational charity I founded, Digital Moment / Kids Code Jeunesse, after eleven years. It’s been 13 years since I left my position as VP at DMCS, the IT company I co-founded with my husband. And now, seventeen years since I handed in my notice at CBC/Radio-Canada. This December allows for another period of change (more on that in 2026).

Initiating change doesn’t come lightly, but each was a choice I made, one that I knew I needed to make, and one that I knew would hurt and cause uncertainty for a period of time afterwards. But the more times I made change, the more it became a place of comfort. And now, a place where I find my own human agency.

As we continue to barrel along into the unknowns of AI, I think that understanding and embracing change is something that will help us, as humans, embrace the uncertainty and find grounding in the moment.

Everything from trying to make sense of grand statements like AI will cause significant job disruption by displacing 92 million jobs by 2030 (WEF, 2025), to small incremental shifts like Google’s new search engine changes. Changes, big and small, are inevitable, and learning to find the calmness in the chaos will help us thrive.

Navigating change requires us to rely on our human strengths and skills that help us understand and respond to shifting circumstances. According to author William Bridges, author of Managing Transitions, change refers to the external event, while transition is the internal process of adjusting to it. I believe that it’s in that internal process, where our natural curiosity and sense of play help us explore new situations, test ideas, and stay open to learning. These strengths work alongside core skills: communication and collaboration help us exchange perspectives and work effectively with others; creativity allows us to consider different approaches; and critical thinking supports clear, informed decision-making. Ultimately, our ability to build and sustain community, by connecting with others, sharing experiences, and offering mutual support, helps us move through change with steadiness and a sense of shared purpose.

Navigating and processing change is also about recognising our agency in shaping what comes next. Change will continue to arrive, sometimes unexpectedly and other times by choice, but we retain the power to respond with intention, clarity, and compassion. When we trust our ability to learn, unlearn, and choose our direction, we move from feeling carried by change to actively steering through it. Embracing change becomes less about managing disruption and more about exercising our human capacity to imagine, to decide, and to build what we want to see in the world.

Start with Curiosity.

As I write in the last page of my book, Am I Literate, “Open curiosity is like walking the winding streets of a new city without a map. There is a sense of uncertainty, but also a sense of purpose. This openness to exploration and discovery invites deeper connections with nature, with ourselves, with others, and now with machines, helping us build the confidence needed to navigate the unknown. By tuning into the patterns around us, listening for signals, observing our surroundings, and making connections, we begin to see the path forward, and our story takes shape as we move ahead.

And sometimes, if we’re lucky, we find a bit of change between the cracks in the pavement.

(yes, I still have a piggy bank…)