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# Walking Crooked
- URL: https://www.churnispeaks.com/notes/walking-crooked/
- Published: 2026-02-19T17:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-02-19T17:00:00.000Z
- Description: Instead of surgery, people choose a walking stick with the most ornate handle and show off the new tech they bought.
- Author: Churni Bhattacharya
- Tags: Transformation, #note, #Import 2026-09-25 22:45

I had knee replacement surgery a few months ago, and the pain was one thing, but the real surprise was this: I'd been walking crooked for so long that it had become my reality. I didn't even realize it anymore.

Then I went through the surgery. Made all these changes. Yes, I was scared. Yes, there was significant recovery involved.

But after that? Life became significantly easier.

I've been thinking about how similar this is to what's happening with advisor behavior and technology adoption.

The pain of staying the same has to become greater than the pain of change before people move.

And there's another factor: the fear of making a bad decision feels worse than the risk of staying stuck.

So people keep walking crooked. They know something's wrong, but the surgery - the overhaul, the temporary step backward - feels too risky.

So, instead of surgery, people choose a walking stick with the most ornate handle and proudly show off the new "tech" they bought.

I see this with data initiatives constantly. People don't want to take a week or a month to look at their current systems and make the overhauls necessary to make AI functional.

You have to take one step backward to take ten steps forward, and most people won't take that one step backward.

But here's what I'd tell anyone in that position: you're already in pain. You're already walking crooked. The difference is whether you're willing to do something about it or just keep compensating.

*First posted on LinkedIn, February 19, 2026.*