Fiddler on the Roof

As I relaxed into my post-NYE position on the couch to watch one of my all time favourite films, 'Fiddler on the Roof', cup of tea in one hand, remote in the other and Indian take-away in front, I realised that I had probably wasted about 5 years writing a book on managing cultural change. You just need to watch Tevye struggling with what is happening in his family, his village and in Russia at the turn of the 20th century to know everything you need to know:

First, what keeps us balanced on the roof, happily playing our fiddles, knowing our place in the order of things ... TRADITION .... TRADITION (deedle de de de dee deedle de de de dee deedle de de de dee) TRADITION!

Second, what happens when you unpick a thread? Things start to unravel and it can cause great personal anguish resulting in Tevye's wrenching appeal to god and TRADITION ... TRADITION (deedle de de de dee deedle de de de dee deedle de de de dee) TRADITION!

Third, dreams and myths are created to enable small changes to be accommodated - Tzeitel gets to marry the poor tailor Motel instead of the butcher without the help of a matchmaker, and Hodel gets to marry Perchik without asking Tevye for permission.

But fourth, there are limits. Tevye expresses the universal fear that if he bends too much he will break and will not accept his third daughter, Chava's, wish to marry the Russian other.

Fifth, then there must come the inevitable EXPULSION .... EXPULSION (deedle de de de dee deedle de de de dee deedle de de de dee) EXPULSION of both Chava and Tevya's community, both of whom now represent fear and the threat to order that generates a tendency to homogenise space and demarcate difference so as to maintain a sense of control and restore the balance.

All this and great music, dancing, and Topol. Save yourself £50 and watch the movie.