Coping with Change

I was asked by an esteemed colleague to do a blog on “managing change”.  I thought to myself, that will be easy. Think of all the changes that are happening around us.  I have been through so much change in my career.  I thought about a book I read a number of years ago “Who moved my cheese” by Spencer Johnson.  I still see those mice and the effects that indecision can have in altering our results.  I thought about conversations with my wife about change and how “she simply hates it”.  I would then say something like…”change is for good…we all grow from it”.  I would say this despite knowing that each change that we faced was frightening but I would always try to “laugh in the face of danger”.  Change can offer so many dangerous curves. I think about the relocations in my career, how it was difficult early on, the fear of the unknown, getting uncomfortable but ultimately growing from the experiences.   I think about my Mom and how she worked nearly 60 years as an assistant and left work on her own when she resisted “the computer”. In her mind, the computer “stopped people from being productive.” Where would we be today if not for the computer? So many thoughts, so different but yet so much the same ~ the commonality is FEAR OF CHANGE!  Fearing change is one thing but adapting to it and ultimately growing from it is the goal of this blog.

 

Leadership demands that there be a constant redefinition of your products and operations to remain a most important force in the marketplace.  The ability that a company and its management has to readily grasp and accept change is paramount to survival and growth. This is not easy due to fear that change itself inflicts.  I was researching the top 10 stressful situations and came across a listing from the Lance Armstrong foundation.   Each factor that was listed ultimately had at its core -change.  Be it a divorce, a new job, finances, health, illness…each of the top 10 “stressers” oozed making adjustments.  

To be able to prosper and rally amidst a sea    of change, there are a few guidelines that will help.

Visualization

The processes that we take to establish and implement change are multiple.  There are so many paths that one could take the road gets murky.  Try not to bind yourself in the possibilities but let the ideas and outcomes surge in like the tide.  This is perhaps the most difficult thing to embrace when it comes to change.  We like to be in control, we want to have clear definition and we want the end to be clear and specific.  When it comes to change, we need to avoid a definitive end point and welcome new possibilities that could happen

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As an example of the end-point think back to the evolution of how we grew up listening to music.  Just in the past 50 years or so consider the following:

• vinyl records 78's, 45's and 33's
• tape cassettes & 8 track
• CD
• MP3

Be it a phonograph or a boom box, think about what it would be like today to have to have those things nearby in order to listen to your music.  Could you imagine “going to the gym” and getting into your workout speed?  How about riding a bike?  Today’s car stereos are so different than 30-40 years ago.  What would we do without our new technology?

 

How does technology happen?  Change.

Don’t be just black and white

It is easier when we know that the results of a particular outcome will be either true or false.  It is tougher when the answer could be multiple choice such as a,b,c,d or e.  Let yourself go for the ‘essay” test.  Expand your outcomes so that it has hundreds of options.  In this way it will help you be more adaptable to change.

Never forget your core values & culture

Always keep your core beliefs as your foundation; a clear sense of purpose is crucial to hitting your targeted goal and without it you will not be able to sustain your journey in the face of change.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going!

Don’t settle

When you feel that you have the best product or service in the industry it is the exact time when you need to innovate.  Always be thinking of the next upgrade or model because if you don’t someone else will.  Think about the hundreds of companies over the past century that are now out of business primarily due to a hesitancy to innovate.

SWOT analysis

The more you know about your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats the more prepared you will be to weather change.

 

Communicate

Don’t hold anything back and be in the listening mode.  Pay attention to the surroundings and the total structure of the organization. Town Hall operations as well as steady interactions is critical.

Make yourself irreplaceable

Earn value and make yourself irreplaceable during a reorganization process. Give 110% especially during times of change.  Be positive and help mentor those around you.  Become the go-to person by means of your good work and positive attitude as you go through the change process.

Accept and welcome uncertainty

Be innovative and flexible to have contingency plans in case problems arise.  Keep your view at the 100 to 200 foot level.  Start at 30,000 feet and gradually zoom in.  Do not get too close or myopia will occur and you will lose sight of the global picture.

Keep in mind that change is natural.  It is good to have change.  What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.  Although reaction to change is unpredictable due to the many effects it has across an industry…stay ahead of it and prosper!

Steve Jobs, founder and CEO of Apple, perhaps the greatest innovator of our times said that “I'm sure a lot of you had this experience when your changing. Your growing as a person and people tend to treat you like you were 18 months ago, and it's really frustrating sometimes when you're growing up and you're more capable… The best thing we can do … is embrace them and do the best thing we can to educate them about our strategy. But to keep our eye on the prize, that is turning out some great products”.  Apple WWDC Closing Keynote, 1997