Navigating through a major change

The Vanishing Cow Reaction

My aunt and uncle’s dairy farm has been a big part of my family for six generations. I lived there the first two years of my life, and spent many more years beyond that helping with various chores, like feeding cattle, baling hay, and mowing their huge yard. Any strong work ethic I developed is owed to that place.

A few years ago, the difficult decision was made to sell the herd and close their dairy operation. No one in our family remembers a time without cows being milked in the barn. While we understood and accepted the reasons, it was still a huge emotional change that impacted over a century of family tradition.

As much as we humans must be change-adept to survive, people can still feel very strong emotions when a change occurs, whether those feelings are implicit or explicit.

It is very similar to the grieving process when a loved one dies. They need time to work through their loss. That loss is the familiar and comfortable way of doing things.

In addition, it takes some people longer than others to let go and accept the change. This creates a difficult balance, especially in corporate cultures that tend to frown on employees wearing their emotions on their sleeve.