We Don't Resist Change, We Resist Its Impact

The most common myth about change is that we resist it, but this is a misunderstanding of change.  Change is an event.  Change is a point in time when something old stops and something new begins.  What people resist is not the change itself, but the impacts of change.  Change is external to people, yet the impact of change is not.  The impact is not only personal, it's emotional.  The impact is something that author, scholar and teacher William Bridges named transtion. 

Change is outcome or results-focused, often the consequence of a perceived solution to a problem or opportunity. It is quick and has a well defined start and stop. Yet problems remain unresolved and opportunities are lost when the impact of the change is ignored.

The most significant impact of change and what we are truly resisting is some form of loss and the experience of disorientation. For example, if I have been teaching for a living and I get laid off or quit my job, my identity as a teacher is challenged.  For better or worse, in most cultures our jobs, marital status, possessions, relationships and even our natural capabilities . . . define us and help us make sense of our place in the world.  So when a change occurs it challenges us to redefine ourselves and until we do we experience disorientation.

Even when we are  happy about a change and it's something we've chosen to do, such as getting married or having a child, we leave something behind and take on something new. Transition is a process of letting go of the beliefs, assumptions and expectations we have held in relationship to something else.  Unlike change which is quick, transition is a process that gradually reforms new beliefs, assumptions and expectations in order for us to regain our energy and enthusiasm for something new.

Understanding what this  transition process is and how the process works helps us to understand what we are losing and how to deal with it.  Whether the change you face is simple or complex, it will carry transitional impacts for everyone involved.  Planning for transitions is change is part of creating a successful foundation for change.  

Part 2: The Sources of Innovation: Understanding The Impact of Organizational Systems

Have you wondered why the current economic crisis felt like it hit us so quickly and severely? Have you wondered why fixing the economy is both slow and difficult. Understanding the impact of organizational systems in the context of the change continuum (see Part I) may shed some light on both the cause and how best to respond.

Innovation and change leadership go hand-in-hand and involves much more than the creation of flashy new products and services, information systems and management fads. Innovation is really the only engine that can move us forward in complex and uncertain times. Understanding organizational systems is an invisible gateway to understanding how to access the sources of innovation in any organization.

Organizational systems is a term I use to describe almost any social system, be it businesses, governments, non-profits, agencies, communities, work groups, and even individuals. All organizational systems are social systems with a set of inter-related and interdependent sub-systems. A good way to picture the dynamics of an organizational system is to envision a hanging mobile with concentric rings and a small sphere at its center. Each ring represents a critical organizational sub-systems and the center sphere represents both the inter-section of all sub-systems as well as a fourth sub-system created by the inter-dependence of the other sub-systems. No sub-system is more important than the others; all rely on each other and are impacted by the health and stability of the rest.

In most organizations, there are three primary sub-systems that can be described as:

1. Organization Systems: the formal rules and structures by which an organization operates and plans for the future. These systems include such things as the espoused mission and values, formal policies and procedures, strategic plans, and organizational development.
2. Technology Systems: the administrative, technical and physical resources and activities that allow an organization to operate and monitor its performance day-in and day-out. Examples include training, information technology, human resources, financial management, and roles and responsibilities.
   
3. People Systems: all of the ways that human being interact such as team functioning, leadership performance at all levels, personal and professional growth and learning.

At the center of our mobile is the fourth sub-system we call culture. Culture is at the intersection of the other three organizational sub-systems. Cultural Systems includes the assumptions and norms that people operate under, both consciously and unconsciously and their behavior. Another way to think about cultural systems is that they tend to be how things really get done. Cultural systems tends to be most stable and therefore the most difficult to change.

Reflecting on the number of variables of any sub-system and how each impacts one another is a tiny microcosm of what we experienced when the the global economy began to fail and slow down. The shear number complex systems involved is one reason it was difficult to predict precisely when the market crisis would overcome market stability. When the dynamic patterns of the financial markets finally reached a tipping point, the impact seemed quite sudden, yet the forces leading to that point has been in place since the 1980s. Further when a sub-system as large at the global financial system changes its pattern, the ripple affect is quite severe creating an economic tsunami.

The importance of understanding organizational systems and the complexity continuum provides a rational guide to a chaotic situation and a way to understand how to best leverage the sources of innovation.

Coming up: More about complexity and why it matters.

-- Sources of Innovation is based on collaborative work developed in partnership with my colleague and friend, Dee Endelman. For information on workshops and speaking engagements email inquiries info@northshoregroup.net

(c)2009, Lucy E Garrick. All rights reserved. Written permission is required prior to reproduction.

Why Investing in "Change Work" is Important

What is the meaning of "change work" and why does it matter?

If the very thought of change work makes your eyes roll, you might be someone who is already aware that change is continual, change can be difficult and that this knowledge, while affirming, doesn’t help you know what to do about change. To get a deeper perspective, consider first that change is natural, learning facilitates change and that all learning is change.

Phase one: becoming aware of what is changing is fundamental and essential, but it is only the first phase in a multi-phase process. The graphic below represents both the continuous and emergent nature of change and the stages encountered in navigating change (denial, acceptance, wilderness, embrace).

The very nature of change is a continual work-in-process. Whether the changes your face are merging two organizations, implementing new work processes, developing a strategy, or shifting behaviors and ways of interacting with others, change does not happen all at once. It is always shifting and emerging at the same time.

As we ride the continuously unfolding waves of change we go through a number of stages. Within each stage we can begin to appreciate the complexity of the process of change.

Consider for example a change to a new work process. Here are some questions you might consider while exploring the new way?

• What is driving the change?
• What will the new process do differently?
• What parts of the old do you want to conserve?
• How might those the old manifest differently in the new context?
• How much do we know about how the new will impact other systems, processes and people?

The list of questions about the new way could go on, and very quickly overwhelm us. Change is easy, but transition is complex and potentially overwhelming. Such overwhelm often results in a state of “being stuck” and a desire to return to old ways.

Phase 2: consider how to leverage the strengths that already exist in order to build momentum for the transition head. Just as thinking about the new way is complex so is this phase. Thinking systemically is one of the most effective approaches to addressing the issues of complexity.

Thinking systemically begins by focusing on the interconnections between parts rather than on an inventory of parts of the entire system. This focus immediately changes one’s perspective on change to seeing how events contribute to patterns that might become obstacles and seeing which reinforcing and balancing processes are most likely to build momentum for change.

Systemic approaches to change are often not intuitive as evidenced by research. Harvard change research performed by John Kotter indicates that over 70% of all change initiatives fail to achieve their intended goals.

What helps? Simple multi-step models provide a welcome framework, and yet they are insufficient for change projects that include competing interests. Equally important is an objective eye, conditioned to viewing change from outside the system. And last, but not least, artfully designed processes, tools and practices that are customized for your industry and organizational culture are necessary for effectively leading change.

Can People Change?

What is Change?

I think of change as learning.

When one learns something, one is changed...Some changes are minor, some are significant; some are temporary, others become permanent. For those of us to espouse the value of education, we tend to regard learning as fun and interesting, even exciting.

Have you given any thought to why if learning is fun, interesting and exciting, it is so hard to change ourselves?

In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn makes these observations about changing yourself.

"Paradigm shifts tend to be traumatic, evolutionary events, which require heroic feats of unlearning our old paradigm before we can embrace the new one. Whether we’re talking about a scientific, theological or philosophical paradigm, the psychological dynamics are the same. Namely, the more powerful the paradigm shift is, the harder it is to make, the fewer the adults there are who will tend to make it..."

Kuhn's comments about paradigms seem to capture the totality of the experience we consider to be "reality." For most of us, reality is equivalent to "truth," and vice versa. Our personal experience is our reality.

There is a large body of psychological and scientific brain research that supports Kuhn's notion that psychological dynamics play a powerful role in preventing us from learning and indeed from changing.

My question for you: "What helps you to unlearn the old and embrace the new?

Please share your thoughts and stories about change by double clicking on the comments link associated with this post.