Change without mental change? No way!
Photo by Cristofer Maximilian
Organizational change is not difficult as long as changes come step by step, one by one. Then you can adjust yourself to it, get used to it and gradually go along with the changed situation.
It becomes different when multiple changes run simultaneously. And new changes follow each other rapidly or overlap. Then exhaustion becomes a severe risk, which you can prevent if you understand what causes the exhaustion.
From high to runaway energy
Initially, things are going well, and the energy level is high. The tentative first steps yield positive results, and a belief is beginning to develop that you can realize some significant breakthroughs.
Until.
Suddenly we are surprised by undelivered results, delays, shifting objectives. Budgets overrun, and schedules turned out to be correct only in the boardroom: anxiety, increasing pressure, emotional reactions and people who drop out physically or mentally.
What is going on? And how do you solve this kind of situation?
Without a mental change process, nothing changes.
The answer to these questions begins with the realization that change is more than the actual change alone. Change is not just the elaborate new strategy, the new system, or the new way of working. It is all of these plus the mental adaptation to the change. Mentally switching to a new situation is a process that you can predict but not plan. Everyone has to deal with it in their way and at their own pace.
An example from my practice is that we worked out a new process within a client call center. The objective was to deliver more customer-centric services. The current process consisted of at least two touch-points with a minimum interval of one hour. This process was not customer friendly. The new process consists of one contact moment, in which the call agent handles the entire customer request. The change was straightforward and visible: from some point, we worked according to the new standard. The employees involved had received instruction about the new process. But still, the work did not go smoothly during the first few days. The employees were used to the old way of working. So they had to unlearn the old routines and find their way into the new practices. They felt less competent, although everyone advocated the new way of serving their customers, and the agents recognized that they could be more meaningful for customers with the new process.
This example shows that the actual change had already been implemented, but the mental change required a longer time. The people involved had to regain their sense of competence and confidence to serve customers. When the team had implemented the physical change, the mental change continued.
A situation like this is manageable as long as you are dealing with one change at a time. But often, reality is more challenging. Too often, we have to deal with simultaneous professional and personal changes. With each change, you go through the same mental process. So, with multiple changes at the same time, you go through multiple mental change processes simultaneously. Dealing with multiple changes is tiring and sometimes even exhausting - literally.
Why is change exhausting?
95% of what we do is habitual behavior. We don't have to think about that. As soon as we start changing our habits, we step out of our comfort zone. That step feels threatening and it leads us to look for comfort. To things we are familiar with or support from people we trust.
Research shows that we use 20% (!) of our body energy to get back into our comfort zone in situations like this. That's exhausting.
The effects of piling up change upon change are apparent: slowly but surely, we exhaust ourselves. Before the actual exhaustion happens, our body sends out all kinds of warning signals:
Structural fatigue
Pain in the back
Pain in the abdomen
Headaches
Poor sleep
Sometimes even heart palpitations
Clear signals that it is too much. And that we need to take a step back. We often do not take that space, and we ignore the signals until it is too late.
Conscious leadership of change processes prevents exhaustion.
One of the big pitfalls in organizational change is a chicken-and-egg situation: there is no time to step away from work, but the best medicine for keeping everyone fit (and getting results) is time to step away from work. It is a vicious cycle that's hard to break once you're in it.
As a responsible leader, you can anticipate the negative vicious cycle in advance. This anticipation requires six deliberate steps to take:
Realize that change is more than just the change. Change is also the mental adjustment to a new situation.
Realize that mental change is a process. The process takes time, and going through the process is an individual experience.
Create time and space to step back from work so people can handle the mental change at their own pace
Don't be alarmed by emotions and signals you may perceive as "resistance" to the change. The change releases energy! Embrace this energy and make sure you use the energy in a positive direction
Don't think of change as a project, but as a process. You can control a project from a distance, with a process you need to be around. To anticipate what is happening and to be able to support people directly when needed.
And above all, realize that the process you are going through is normal.
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