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L ife would be more comfortable if clichés helped. “Change is the only constant.” “Without change we’d never have progress.” “Change should be embraced.” If only it were that easy. Managing change Change is a powerful force, so embrace it, learn from it, and by all means, take account of its effects and be reasonable in dealing with it.
Scientists talk about the ripple effect of one small change in ecosystems in the natural world. Change has the same effect on the patterns and systems that we set up in our own lives. Imagine, then, the impact of change on organizations; leadership transition; reorganization; redefining departmental vision; merging departments and trying to bring together two different cultures; and the constant technological accommodations required by all of us these days. Even the smallest diversion from the norm can cause tremendous resistance for the following reasons: ❚ ❚ When we are in transition we are, at least for a time, deprived of knowledge. When our knowledge base is eroded, we feel we no longer have our influence. Control becomes a real issue. ❚ ❚ When we are not in control, we have a tendency to
hang onto the familiar. Often we dig in our heels and insist on staying with the old ways. Sometimes we even sabotage our own progress or the progress of others, a phenomenon known as “success sabo- tage,” or “fear of success,” so we don’t have to face the unknown. ❚ ❚ Anxiety increases and it is not really about the pres- ent because we know what’s happening at the mo- ment. Anxiety invokes the past. We remember what we went through with past transitions. Or it is about the future. We anticipate the worst. ❚ ❚ There is a loss of the familiar. We may be giving up a feeling of expertise, old habits, or comfortable work- ing relationships. Even when the changes are needed and positive, we are losing familiarity and predict- ability, which leads to a loss of confidence. “We have always done it that way,” means we know how to do it that way and it is no longer a struggle. In a world of tension and inherent difficulty, sameness can be calming and soothing. The fact that a new direction
Gerri King CONSULTANT’S CORNER
See GERRI KING, page 8
THE ZWEIG LETTER May 30, 2016, ISSUE 1154
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