We keep hearing about fast change, radical change, unexpected change, need-for-change… We ARE at a time of change, internationally. Economical crisis, at a global scale as it is the present one, prompts immediate, decisive change – be it voluntary or not.

So, are you afraid of change in your company or in your own life?

It is natural, I say, that we feel insecure when things turn to be different around us, but there are several traps to avoid, at a personal and professional level, in order to REALLY survive change and make progress.

Imagine your company decides to undergo a radical reorg prompted by crisis. This is actually one of the best things an organization, big or small alike, can do to face external change – to change themselves and adapt quickly.

Organizations, like people, must be swift and decisive when the need for adaptation comes or risk perish and be forever forgotten in the limbo dot-coms and other business bubbles go lurking until complete oblivion or erasure from existence.

How would managers in an organization see change, in the above case?

• As a desperate need
• As unstoppable, as soon as decisions are made
• As a personal mission, as if it was their own survival that was at stake
• As a good thing for them and for “others” that are “with” them, since it’s “personal”…

On the other hand, the ones affected by these changes, usually employees further down the company food-chain, will be divided towards the real benefits of what they often perceive as abrupt, useless, aggressive demands for “change” on the part of their bosses.

uh-oh! Can you see the recipe for trouble there? Exactly, what the managers responsible for the survival of the organization also often forget is that what they are changing, along with (what they hope to be) the ability of their company to survive or their own chances to keep their successful jobs, is… the lives of others. And, to make it more complicated, such “others” in many cases won’t see anything but impending doom, won’t feel anything but fear and won’t do anything but whine and complain about what is being asked from them.

As I see it, and from some more or less traumatic change processes I myself went through, both as a manager and as a “closer-to-bottom” feeder in a company, there aren’t universal solutions or methods to deal with this. Usually, people just have to brace themselves, do what’s needed and just go through it like one would in case of having surgery: in fear, but in hope. Even when one doesn’t trust the surgeon, what “real” choices are there? They are the ones that “know”!

The above actually describes what, in my opinion, is the average “stance” of people that face change. The average guy, the one that lets someone else lead the process and take the risks involved, also the one most likely to jump to the opposite side influenced by less optimistic fellows.

These are also the ones that probably already went through the 5 stages* of grief that happen to people whenever something in their lives changes, be it health wise or because of loss. In reality, “change” in an organization DOES imply loss: the loss of security and what was expected until that moment. So, sudenlly, you lost your ground, what are you going to do?

I met several types of reactions to change, and with time and after reading and trying to learn about the subject — and after experiencing it first hand , I started “seeing” these ones as in a matrix of personality or attitudes:

1. The ones that actually RESIST change with all their strength.
2. The kind that feel victimized by it and feel miserable
3. The type that I described already, people that just “accepted” it and will follow through
4. The very involved and proactive ones, people that actually adhere to change and promote it, help actively whomever is in charge of it and advocate it at any time

All those “stances” may have their own merit, really. And, clearly, managers also fall into different categories when dealing with their change process – some will be benevolent, others concerned and others will just be ruthless and demanding. But before we try to quickly judge people that aren’t exactly doing what we percieve as more “glamorous” in the process, please allow me to explore a bit each type. I’d start with people that actually have no significant decision making in the change, let’s call them “non-managers” just for the sake of this argument:

1. The resistant; well, it makes _personal_ sense to resist change, be it because it is part of one’s personality or because simply one has much to loose or one fears the “unknown” ahead. Who doesn’t? We all go through our own doubts before we embrace any change: will it be better or worse? Am I making the right choice? won’t I be just plainly screwed by this? Well, if I actually convince myself that is the case AND that I have no other choice, I’ll try to protect what makes me feel safe and what I have now, in this case, I’ll try to resist change. If you ask me, after given a chance for them to accept and cooperate, these are the ones that a wise manager would fire or just move into a side position. Most managers do exactly that, right away, so being a “resistant” may turn out to be the “first to fall”.

2. The victim; unable to actually take action, even a negative one such as “resisting”, the victim usually simply feels powerless, used and abused. This is a totally unhealthy approach, in my opinion, these people, if they don’t get a hold of themselves, can actually go into depression, cardiac problems and so on. If they feel used and abused, however, I’d say “try and listen, try and communicate”. Indeed, in most cases, people like this either need actual treatment or they will snap out of it if proper and honestly reassured about what is happening. Given a proper choice, this type of person will survive change and will become happy again. There are pitfalls on dealing with them, though, and many change managers will just quickly put them aside and try to get read of them asap, rightly convinced that they are toxic to others.

3. The follower; well, not wanting to take any real risk, they are a risk to the manager because they can actually turn “sides” and never talk about it, become resistants or victims, rarely becoming “advocates”. Generally, though, these ones will survive change and will help achieve it. For managers, these aren’t the most critical ones to be concerned about — only when they change stance.

4. The advocate; usually having also a personal interest in the subject (such as a ulterior motive like being promoted in the process or getting ahead of someone they don’t like), this is the one that will help and work for change, that will indeed defend it — and that can also fall victim to the pessimism of the victim or the unstability of the follower. So, again, a percievable risk to the ones leading the change, in more than one way: first, because the others less optimistic and involved can actually turn them into some other stance, but also because just promoting them to avoid that very fact may not actually render the expected results, being it possible to create a few more resistants among followers that may feel they were “left behind”.

Terrible huh? It sure looks like a pessimistic view of any process of change and that there are no “good actors” in this, no easy way through it. And I didn’t even start talking about the attitude and choices managers take in all this, often just creating more entropy and problems themselves, not rarely because of lack of empathy or excess ambition. Or both. Or more than that.

Well, the real subject of this post today, is not about the managers, and it’s not even about how to deal with the people and their reactions to change. What I mean to say here is that, whichever category you fall in as described here, you should be aware of it and make conscious choices about it — not just be carried on and away by the whole process and ending up hurting even more…

This is why “change management” is a subject of so many seminars, conferences, books and courses. Big consulting companies have whole departments dedicated to it. Companies urge their managers to go into special training when “that” time comes. And big money changes hands when change is needed The small guy, whatever stance he or she has, will certainly be the one threading in very murky waters.

Again not pretending that I do have any universal truth, talking because I was one in both sides of “change” in so many occasions to date, I feel I can say something that may help relax about the whole thing.

Not being a manager, what can one do?

I recommend to be proactive but not too anxious, participate in everything with enthusiasm and without fear and listen carefully to what is being said at all times. Also, beware of the ones that want to bring you down form your cloud and make you feel inadequate because you are having a positive attitude instead of a pervasive and permanent negative one, undermined with skepticism and cynicism. Being optimistic is good and it is indeed better for your health! So, I’d say:

- Don’t be reactive. Just assume things will change, so you’d better adapt too; it’s not that “resistance is futile“, it’s just that it is ludicrous to waist any energy when the bottom line is that you ALWAYS have a real choice if you look hard enough. If “change” was decided, change will happen. If you aren’t happy, resisting it is stupid and you should change things for your self (look for a different position, try other department?) before your resistance becomes a hindrance and you get fired or retired in a worst situation. Skepticism may be healthy, but if the decisions were already made, it’s a little too late to resist it, so if you really don’t believe in it, seriously, you’d better change yourself and look for greener pastures elsewhere.

- Don’t let yourself be a nay-sayer. First that’s not resisting and second it  may become so frustrating for others that are really working that they may get seriously annoyed. Often because a person develops cynicism against everything for having worked for a long time and seeing nothing changing, when change comes, they just keep saying that “hey, seen this, seen the intention, nothing worked so it’s not gonna work now”. Even if your expectations weren’t met in the past, this doesn’t mean everyone else as the same feelings. Change is change, if you don’t want to change, but it happens anyway, in the end you may find yourself alone and without friends and still having to face a new reality that all but you helped build. Makes sense?

- Help whenever possible your leader focus on the key values about this change! All of you involved have to know WHY you are changing and WHAT GOOD is expected to come from it. So, do ask him or her what these values are, and he or she will actually inspect if this values exist and if they are solid and known so that they can tell it to you and others — and tell it to themselves!

- Do discuss problems openly with colleagues and leaders. There are many challenges to face and if you just pretend problems don’t exist, they don’t get resolved. As a part of the solution, you need to know what are the problems that exist so you can help with them — and so do your colleagues and leaders.

- Communicate openly your concerns, but be proactive and imaginative in pointing possible solutions you can live with. Your suggestions will be heard, everyone has concerns and everyone is in the same boat, so some of your concerns may be indeed shared by more people than what you think. Remember, communicating concerns is NOT being negative when you do it constructively.

- Be organized, do keep your own tasks and goals under control. This way you’ll be able to know what progress you are actually making and what challenges you still have to take care off. And you’ll be able to communicate rationally and clearly to others about it.

- Take ownership and responsibility for what is being asked to do. Don’t expect others to jump in and do stuff around just because it’s there to do. Taking ownership also means you should again communicate to others that you did so and that you will see it through completion. This also will give others a sense that you are community oriented and that “no one has to tell you to work”. Everyone is happier with someone they can count on, and since all are in the same boat, all do indeed have responsibility and should do what they have to. “Change” has costs to everyone, it will benefit everyone to distribute the effort. It’s called sharing and being civilized. And by taking the initiative you’re also setting the example.

- Keep your mood healthy Don’t just let irritation take the better of you, come on!, it’s already stressful as it is to do everything under pressure, why just be a sour-puss as well?

Well, there are so many common sense things I could talk about, still. It’s a complex subject, of course, but here I just wanted to make it a little lighter for the ones that are the pawns of change. The other ones, I’ll get there soon — I also have a lot to say about them!

Meanwhile, have fun!

Yours truly,

-Sergio de Sousa

* The 5 Stages mentioned are: Denial, Anger, Bargainaing, Depression, Acceptance.