Engage with change

When my husband really wants me to understand something, he starts using my consulting lingo - words like 'engage' and 'unpack’ and ‘emotionally taxing’'. You know, very mushy concepts trying to sound less mushy. And yes, mushy is a proper word too...

Doing what I do, I hear all the change related clichés almost daily: "The more things change, the more it stays the same"; "They/he/she/it/the country will never change". And a nice acceptance one: "A change is as good as a holiday".

I usually explain change in this way: If you think change, think loss. Initially it sounds weird, but if you compare the process of acceptance of severe loss to acceptance of change, there are lots of similarities. Also, it helps you understand the change pain better.

The other good thing about change is that we become 'change fit'. And all the sporties reading this think: "Really?!". Yes, really. We measure change readiness as part of the culture survey, and it is very easy to spot a group or team that deals with change often -those pockets that have all the necessary coping strategies in place to embrace change quickly and effectively.

However, like with fitness, you have different kinds of fitness. I can do yoga for hours on end, but ask me to run up a few flights of stairs and I want to pass out. Similarly your team may be able to adapt very quickly to daily changes, but larger longer term change may throw them off completely.

The other interesting dynamic in change management is that we often underestimate change. As a leader you may implement something that in your mind is minute, but the people around you are completely not buying into it, and then you wonder: "What's that about? This is really not a big deal!"

On a personal level, dealing with change is just as unpredictable. Similarly to the loss acceptance process, when dealing with change our emotions jump quite unexpectedly from anger/frustration/resistance, (back) to denial, and then possibly to moments of complete acceptance and participation within the change. Then again to the sadness/depression/disengagement state. And that is okay.

I could share with you lots of stories of how different organisations approached changes such as new IT systems, different tendering strategies, sections in a business becoming cost centres, management shuffles, restructuring, etc. etc. To spot the change around us is not that difficult. To understand and see where you are deep within the change, now that my friend, is a different story. Because if you could just see it, you could manage the change 'pain'. 

Motto Model: http://goo.gl/cNnpy and Motto Individual Assessment: http://goo.gl/UhC7V    

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