The Two Sides Of Change
by Miki Saxon
The word on the street is that people hate change.
But another school of thought says it’s not change, but how change is presented and implemented.
I agree with both statements.
Change must be presented intelligently, i.e., in ways that the people involved see the change as positive for themselves and for their situation.
This is the overt side of change that, at its best, addresses both the right and left side of your brain.
But what about the covert side of your brain—the part ruled by habit?
Anybody who has ended a habit, such as smoking, or modified an unconscious characteristic, such as rapid speaking, knows just how difficult it is to change/modify things of which you’re not even aware.
It is this covert side that makes change so difficult.
Any major action or situation has dozens of tiny associated habits and every one of them needs to change or, at least, be modified, because habits are never really broken—they are replaced.
For example, it is the hundreds of covert habits that make changing jobs so traumatic. On top of all the biggies—new company/culture/job/boss/colleagues—are the minutiae of functioning—route to work/parking/mass transit/restrooms/eating/etc.—this list is far longer than the overt list—and far more ignored.
Whether you are managing change for your team or changing yourself, ignoring the covert side allows all those niggling little habits to come back and bite you imperiling your success.
Look at both sides and make lists of what you find and think about how to deal with each, and don’t try to do it alone, it isn’t necessary and it makes a difficult effort harder.
Image credit: MeHere on sxc.hu
