Chapter 6
Know Your Natural Response to Change

To act and act wisely when the time for action comes, to wait and wait patiently when it is time for repose, put man in accord with the rising and falling of tides, so that with nature and law at his back, and truth and beneficence as his beacon light, he may accomplish wonders. Ignorance of this law results in periods of unreasoned enthusiasm on the one hand, and depression on the other. Man thus becomes the victim of the tides when he should be their Master.   Helean Petrova Blavatsky, 19th-Century Russian Writer and Theosophist

As you grow in self-enlightenment, so will your awareness of your natural response mechanisms. We are each different, with a different history and culture—it all makes us who we are. As pointed out in the last chapter, some are extroverts, others introverts. Some are quick starts, others fact-finders. Some are liberals, others conservatives. We have natural ways in which we respond to conflict—natural ways in which we each respond to change. Understanding your natural way of handling change is the first step in taking responsibility for managing change.

The rate of change is faster than it has ever been in any time in our history. More new information has been acquired in the last 50 years than in all of history. Technology is advancing at rates that create a feeling of never being able to stay current or know everything that we need to know—new software to learn, new concepts to digest, and new information to obtain from the Internet.

Cultural anthropologists say that, biologically, baby boomers are not equipped to handle the rate of change that we are experiencing. The chaos and feeling of being totally out of control comes with the revolutionary transformation that we are experiencing. It is too much for our metabolisms, which are wired for a more evolutionary rate of change.

Man has a limited biological capacity for change. When this capacity is overwhelmed, the capacity is in future shock.   Alvin Toffler

We see the manifestation of this in new and scary phenomena like “road rage,” workplace violence, and “airplane rage.” A growing problem with people who are not able to handle the instability in the workplace and literally lose control has been dubbed “going postal.” It seems that very often we read of a new episode of a disgruntled worker tragically killing or wounding bosses and co-workers. It is such a problem that training sessions are very common to help managers and other employees deal with workplace violence. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, workplace violence, including assaults and suicides, accounted for 16 percent of all work-related fatal occupational injuries in 2000. Violent acts are consistently named among the top three causes of workplace fatalities for all workers.¹

In all of this turmoil and chaos, we need to understand our individual response to change. Some of us have experienced a great deal of change in our lives—perhaps we moved frequently during childhood, or maybe we had an unstable family environment with different adult caretakers. Perhaps change was commonplace for you as you developed into adulthood. If this is the case, you may be better able to cope with the instability that we now have in the workplace. On the other hand, if your developmental years were characterized by little change—a more routine existence where you lived in the same house with the traditional family unit intact and where your job situation was stable with most of your career with one employer—then you may have a more difficult time addressing the magnitude of change we are experiencing today.

Based on research we have conducted with over 9,000 employees, I have formulated six “types” of employee reactions to the changing workplace. I call them the six F’s (see Figure 5). I invite you to be honest with yourself and identify where you think you fit along this continuum. Have fun with this. It is not intended to label you because we probably all have some of each type, but rather to raise awareness of how many of us handle change.

Figure 5

THE SIX F’S
Responses to Change

Type 1: The “Foggies.” I estimate this to be about 10 percent of the workforce. They are in a “fog”, so to speak. This group has either been in a protected, stable environment not impacted by change or simply chooses to ignore change. These individuals stand firm and unmovable. The “protected group” is very comfortable, may have read about the issues of the changing workplace, but can’t see how it would ever apply to them. A representative comment from a foggy in an industry that has become highly competitive is: “I think all of the talk about competition is overstated. I haven’t seen any increase in competition in the 25 years that I have been here.” When he made this statement in a focus group, everyone else looked at him in disbelief as if to say, “Where have you been?” My answer: “In a fog.” Those who ignore change are sometimes left alone in the organization, in their own little world. “Well you know Sally, she is going to do it her way until she retires. We just work around her.”

Foggies are oblivious or choose to ignore change, and their circumstances may allow them to do so more easily than others. It is dangerous to remain in this state, even if there is no foreseeable change in your field. Staying current with what is happening around you and knowing what you would do in the event of a significant change is what I call an “I’m ready” mindset in Chapter 10.

Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.   Bruce Lee, 20th-Century American Actor and Martial Artist

Type 2: The “Fakers.” They try to convince others and often themselves that they are with the “change program”. They know the words to say and “pay lip service” to management, but deep down inside, they have no intention of changing their behavior because they hope that this, too, shall pass and everything will return to “normal.” Another reason that many fakers do not change is because they do not know how to, but are afraid to admit that they are having difficulty managing change. We need to take a close look at ourselves and ask, “Am I faking it? Am I really going through internal turmoil and stress but putting on a ‘happy face’?”

The response to change messages can fall into three patterns for fakers:

1.   “I heard the words but this, too, shall pass. It is just another program of the month. I will just wait it out. There’s no need to do anything differently, but I won’t be too conspicuous or vocal. They are so busy trying to implement this change, that I won’t be noticed. By the time they notice me, they will be on to the next new thing.”

2.   “I heard the words and understand intellectually. This really is a message for others, not me. I already know this stuff. I hope all of those others get with the program.”

3.   “I heard the words . . . understand intellectually. . . I know what I have to do to change.” (The new behavior doesn’t happen. These individuals may have even convinced themselves they are changing.)

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              “You have to be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You cannot get there by bus, only by hard work, risking and by not quite knowing what you are doing. What you will discover will be wonderful: yourself”.

— Alan Alda