"People Don't Resist Change, They Resist Being Changed"

Human nature is summed up by the quote above. It's from lecturer Peter Senge.

In places like Ontario, or a slots state near you, there is change happening. It's change that cannot be stopped; if it hasn't happened yet it will, and if it's happening already, you see what consternation, and in many cases hardship, it brings. As Seth Godin once wrote, "Every revolution destroys the average middle first and most savagely."

What has occurred from a nuts and bolts standpoint with slots in Ontario has been discussed quite a bit. There is no need to rehash it. However, there is the quote above that struck me in regards to this situation.

What's happened beyond the obvious, is that the people who were used to steering the boat, no longer are in the Captain's chair. The fiefdoms, the alphabets, those who controlled strikes for racedates, or the purse strings on capital improvements, or what have you, have been relegated to the back seat. They're passengers. The government, with industry help, are driving the bus with their de-facto commissioners office.

This is a hard position to be put in. I think you see some fight for the status quo, not because the future is bleak, or that the government is making bad decisions for the sport, or the funding is not enough. I think the fight is there because their jobs have changed. They've lost control. I wonder if I were in their shoes if I would not be acting the same way.

They are not resisting change - no one in their right mind thought the status quo from years ago was sustainable, and no one with a current system of slots propping up the business do either - they are resisting having their roles changed.

I think the fight in that dog is formidable, and it goes to show us how hard a commissioner's office would be to start. It's not going to happen through industry meetings, or consensus. The only way that probably happens is if the entire funding formula is blown up. If the business is blown up, like it was in Ontario.

That's an odd position for a lover of the sport - someone who wants to see it fundamentally change, and grow and be relevant again - to be put in.