Member Spotlight, Christy Temple

Christy Temple

Innovation and Planning, Organizational Change Analyst

Fun Fact

I am trained in the dynamics of navigating through change. I'm open to change and communicate it well. What makes me especially effective in change management is recognizing and understanding my own resistance to change. Fun fact: I have eight siblings. 

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Background

I was born in Dallas, Texas, and a month later my family relocated to our home state of Oregon. Fortunately, I was quite resilient in adapting to change at that age. I earned a master’s degree in education from Willamette University.

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Path to Change Management

 Officially, I’ve been in the change management field for almost four years. Unofficially, I feel like I’ve been in it my whole life—as a parent (watching my child grow into an incredibly kind adult), as a middle school teacher (a true time of transition and transformation), as a Realtor (buying and selling homes—big moves and big change), and now as an Organizational Change Analyst at the Oregon DMV. I was drawn to this career because of my personal and professional experiences with change. I’ve seen how critical it is to focus on the people side of change, and how much of a difference it makes for those impacted.

In reading other bios to prepare for my own, I noticed a common theme of travel. Travel involves a lot of change—letting go of control, embracing imperfection, and adapting along the way. I’d say the same is true of change management. Travel has been one of my best teachers. I’ve journeyed from Alaska to Jalisco and from Oregon to Georgia. I love to travel, and my favorite trips are the extended stays, where I can really get to know a place and its people.

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Biggest Obstacle Getting Established in Change Management

The biggest obstacles for me were finding my focus and discovering my authentic voice. You know how, as a child, people tell you, “You can be whatever you want”? That opens up a lot of options, and I felt compelled to do a taste-test before settling on any one path. In hindsight, the focus was always there—I just had to identify my patterns.

Finding my authentic voice was perhaps harder and remains a work in progress. It comes back to lessons learned through travel: letting go of control and embracing imperfection. For example, I write a lot, but I may never become a writer. I’ve given up the pressure to create something profound and released myself from the expectation of doing anything with my writings. A very wise friend explained it this way: “We write to explore our thoughts and feelings. We can leverage these explorations in our conversations.” This perspective has helped me immensely in finding my authentic voice. I am also practicing the art of listening, pausing, recapping, and renegotiating—because being heard is often what matters most.

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Biggest Reward from this Career

The biggest reward I get from this career is discovering the elusive detail that brings everything neatly together. It is often the simplest thing—and the easiest to overlook.

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Bucket List Yet to Accomplish

I have so much yet to accomplish! What I focus on is identifying the next right step, which usually gets me where I want to go.