Remember the old days, when a “reorg” was something distinctive and rare? Consultants would come into your company and poke around for a while, and then the change would get announced.
- People would be let go
- Maybe some functions would get merged or scrapped
- Reporting relationships would shift
- Perhaps the brand would get a reboot.
Everybody who survived would breathe a big sigh of relief and things would go back to normal – i.e., stability in the new status quo.
Now, though, change is the status quo. Every one of our client organizations is in a fairly continuous state of transformation. All the things I mentioned in the previous paragraph – people coming and going, structures changing, the brand shifting – are everyday occurrences, vs. unusual disruptions. In addition, there are new kinds of change that were barely a factor twenty-five years ago: continually evolving work processes resulting from new technology; go-to-market strategies that shift dramatically in response to changing consumer preferences and buying patterns; company cultures affected by changing demographics and recognition of historical biases and the ability to work remotely and still be productive.
Given that most of us are wired to prefer stability, this level of change — continuous and profound — can be pretty daunting and disorienting. So, what can you do to re-wire yourself to be better at change, more capable, and more comfortable in a world of continuous transformation?
Below are five approaches we’ve found helpful:
1. Talk to yourself differently.
In working through change with clients and colleagues, I’ve found that people who have the easiest time with change talk to themselves about it very differently from people who have the hardest time with it. You may or may not be aware that we all talk to ourselves, pretty much all the time. Often we’re relatively unaware of this mental monologue, and it’s fairly benign (it’s cold in this train…wow, that guy’s phone is loud…did I remember to write that email?…etc.) But sometimes it tells us things that are both untrue and unhelpful, and we generally believe what that voice says; we don’t question it.
People who have a hard time with change tend to have self-talk that both reinforces the difficulty of change and predicts that it — or they — will fail:
Oh my god, ANOTHER restructuring? I just can’t do this anymore. And it’s never anything useful…just some idiot in a big office who doesn’t understand how things work…
And so forth; you get the picture.
However, people who are good at changing tend to talk to themselves about change in ways that are more balanced, like this:
OK, another restructuring. Not my favorite thing, but I’ll figure out what’s required and make it work. I hope it’s an improvement.
Not wildly optimistic, just realistic and hopeful. Talking to yourself in this way not only makes you feel differently about change, it makes you behave differently: calmer, more open, more curious and reflective, and better able to operate in new ways.
Here’s some more information about how to change the way you speak to yourself, to give you a more useful mindset about change.
2. Create islands of stability.
Because most of us prefer stability, we find constant change very discomforting. One way to make all the change in your life easier to handle is to consciously create and enjoy some non-change. That is, establish some regular rituals and traditions that are yours to control.
For example:
In my own life — which involves a lot of travel, dramatic ongoing evolution in our business, and significant change in the lives of all my children and their spouses and children — I create and treasure small islands of comforting routine. For instance, when I come home in the evening, I always spend some time just hanging out with my husband, reconnecting and sharing our thoughts. It’s a predictable and delightful time in the midst of who-knows-what.
And I have lots of those little islands:
- Eating at a favorite local restaurant every few weeks
- Doing a twice-weekly yoga class either online or in person, no matter where I am
- Calling my sister at least one Sunday afternoon a month.
Creating and cherishing some routines and rituals makes it easier to deal with everything that’s changing.
3. Get clearer about the what and why.
When our organizations change, it’s not usually our idea — we’re generally at the effect of others’ decisions about change. That can make change much harder: most of us don’t like to feel as though we’re not in control of our lives. In order to feel less like a victim of change, make it your business to find out as much as you can about what the change entails and why it’s happening. The better you understand the change, the more likely you are to be able to make it your own: to deal with it in ways that seem reasonable to you, and that will benefit you.
For example:
Let’s say that your company is instituting a new system for gathering and responding to customer feedback — and that it will affect a pretty significant part of your daily routine.
- Rather than just complaining and feeling put upon, talk to your boss to make sure you have all the relevant information about when it will happen, how it will work, and what will be expected of you (and if your boss doesn’t know, find out who does know, and talk with that person).
- Find out what resources you’ll have for getting up-to-speed on the new system – for instance, whether there’s anyone familiar with it who can coach you.
- The more you know, the more likely you are to be able to make a personal plan for dealing with the change – and the less you’ll feel like it’s happening “to you.”
4. Be willing to be bad at things.
This is a big one. One of the most difficult things about change is that it often forces us back into a state of “noviceness,” where we feel clumsy and inept, have to ask lots of “beginner” questions, do things slowly, and get stuff wrong. Most adults really dislike the experience of being a novice. We want to be good right now — especially if we’re doing the new thing in public, as we usually are at work. Again, the main place to get better at this is with your self-talk.
People who are good at being novices tend to have self-talk about learning new things that goes something like this:
I’m going to be bad at this to start with – that’s inevitable. AND I can get good at it – I’ve gotten good at lots of things.
This balanced self-talk, of accepting your not-good current state, while at the same time having faith in your ability to learn, turns out to be the optimal starting point for dealing with change: it reduces your anxiety and therefore creates more mental and emotional bandwidth to take in new information and new ways of operating. I’ve written a whole book about this, but you can find a summary of some of the key concepts that are still relevant today in this Forbes post from 2014.
5. Celebrate successes.
When change is continuous, it often seems as though we have to dive into the next wave almost before we’ve cleared the previous one. It can seem hard to keep going, let alone celebrate our achievements. But it’s important to acknowledge our successes with change, and it’s worth taking even a moment to do it.
At Proteus, we’re in the midst of significant changes—shifting long-standing ways of working to more efficient, forward-thinking approaches. Change of this scale impacts everyone, requiring new habits, adjustments, and a willingness to let go of the familiar. As we navigate these transitions, we’ve agreed that once we’ve successfully implemented a new process and seen its benefits in action, we’ll take a moment to celebrate. We’ll acknowledge the people who put in the extra effort to make it happen, appreciate everyone’s openness to change, and highlight the positive impact of the shift. It’s like pausing mid-hike to catch your breath, looking back at the progress you’ve made. That moment of reflection feels great—and fuels the momentum to keep moving forward.
We live in an age of continuous change and disruption. Anyone who wants to thrive and succeed needs to get good at going through change. I hope you find these approaches helpful in building your own change capability – and if you have additional insights or tools, I’d love to hear them.