From Fear To Focus: Building Change Resilience at Work

Opening Reflection: Change as a Constant

As a person who has experienced a lot of change in their life, I like to think I’m pretty adaptable and open-minded when it comes to change. Experiencing multiple countries, multiple schools, multiple houses, I definitely got used to having to work things out quickly in new environments and cultures.

But we can all get initially floored by change — it’s what we do next that matters.

• Do we notice what thoughts are racing around our mind?
• Do we notice what feelings have been triggered in our body?
• To what extent do we actively choose our next reaction?

The Brain’s Response to Change

You are probably aware that our brains like to simplify things. They require a lot of energy and therefore look for patterns and familiarities to work out how much attention is needed from our conscious cognitive thinking, and what can be automated.

New school? I’ve got this; less conscious are the habits around getting up, getting dressed, going to school and an expectation around being in a classroom and learning.

More conscious are the thoughts and feelings around being in a new building, meeting people I don’t know yet, the nervousness and anxiety that brings. As a child, given a choice, I most likely would not have wanted to move country/house/school; however, as in life, you get what you’re given sometimes, and so it was about making the best of the situation.

For me, noticing who was standing to one side, not part of a ‘gang’, made them more approachable, and going up and talking to them helped me connect and start to settle in, because I knew that once I felt less isolated, the place would feel a bit less strange and scary (thanks, @Liz Dawson!).

Our brain initially reacts negatively to change. Noticing what we think and feel and making a choice about how we then behave can be really helpful in response to change, particularly where we have little or no choice. It gives us a sense of ownership as we are owning our actions and as such, taking control over what we can.

Understanding Organisational Change

In organisations, many things happen that are out of our control. They may have been someone else’s decision, or it may be outside influences and pressures. These are the hardest changes as we can also sometimes not understand these either. When we don’t understand why there is a change, it’s very hard for us to buy in; although we may follow orders if that’s what we have to do, and it’s important to our job to follow, e.g. new policies, procedures, and technology introductions.

If leaders and managers seek to understand the purpose of new changes and communicate this clearly and early, that makes a big difference.

Secondly, where can individuals take some ownership over their actions? What space is there in the change for personal choice? Small things can make a big difference.

Finding Ownership in Change

• Have you been allocated a new manager?
• Can you choose when, where and how you meet your new manager, and what questions you can bring to your first meeting?
• Are you offered information in advance around the reasons behind the restructure and a bio around your new manager before you meet them so you can understand and prepare what questions you might have about them?
• If your role responsibilities are changing as part of this restructure, has that been communicated to you in a way that makes sense to your day-to-day activities?

Why Change Feels Threatening

What we are trying to do is reduce the fear and unknown in change, because it is this that triggers our automatic defence mechanisms. When our brain does not recognise something and cannot easily pattern match, then that information and situation is automatically flagged as a danger to our survival. Plus, there is little difference in the brain around physical versus social survival, so it treats threats as risks.

Therefore, if we think about the context that due to a restructure I’ve got a new manager, the team is expanding, we work a mix of home and office-based and I’ve got some new colleagues; my job title is changing in the restructure but the job looks much the same as it did before, now with some extra responsibilities, I think — there is much here to fear.

My first, and natural, reaction is fear. Fear of the unknown, of the unfamiliarity. It takes us a moment to choose our next reaction:

Do I step into that feeling of fear and become anxious, worried?

Or do I tell myself I’m having a natural reaction because I am only scared of what I don’t know yet, and soon I will know more, and then it is likely to be better?

Do I stress at home and wallow in my anxiety, or do I take action to find out more information and meet these new people?

Building Self-Awareness and Resilience

We can all take responsibility for building our self-awareness for what is going on for us, what might be happening, why different feelings might be arising for us and taking action to positively help ourselves.

Ask yourself:

When faced with an unknown, do you give yourself a moment to take stock and spot what feelings and thoughts have been triggered? Do you think about what you do next to help yourself?

Leaders who practise this self-awareness model it for their teams — helping others navigate uncertainty more confidently.

What Leaders Can Do

Organisations can significantly help and support people with change by equipping managers and leaders to have an awareness and understanding around how we react to change, to ask questions and really listen to what people are experiencing, and to use coaching questions to help them work out their best next steps.

In doing so, they are building change resilience in themselves and their teams.

If you are a manager or leader, ask yourself:

When was the last time you asked someone, in a private space where they can’t be overheard, “How are you doing; what are you thinking or feeling about what is going on for you right now?” and used the powerful tool of silence and undivided attention to listen and not interrupt?

From Reflection to Action

I’d invite you to take a moment to reflect and take stock, and consider how you could increase the number of times you check in with yourself and with others, particularly if you are in a very changeable workplace.

If you would like to find out more about how we, at Co-Creation, equip managers and leaders with the tools and techniques to manage change successfully, then please join our interactive session Rethinking Change Leadership on 13 November.

It’s an opportunity to explore practical, evidence-based ways to strengthen change resilience across your organisation — and to connect with peers who are leading change in complex environments.