Change is a Science
September 27th, 2006
An interesting article this month in CIO Magazine (thanks, Chris!) entitled The New Science of Change talks about how scientists are studying the activity of the brain when a human is presented with a change in their behaviors at work. As a company that helps other companies reinvent themselves – and therefore completely change the way they look at themselves, their industry and their relationships with their employees and customers - we know that change isn’t always a piece of cake. And now there’s scientific evidence to back that up.
The best part of the article is the “10 Change Management Rules,” which looks at things that we all already know from a scientific standpoint:
1. Stay on message. The brain needs repetition to move a concept from the prefrontal cortex, which handles unfamiliar concepts and complex decisions, to the basal ganglia, where habits are stored. For new concepts to become hardwired, those pathways have to be reinforced continually.
2. Keep it simple. The prefrontal cortex can entertain only a handful of concepts at a time. Therefore, complex projects need to be refined to one or two goals that businesspeople can easily understand so that their prefrontal cortexes do not become overwhelmed, causing fatigue and the psychological and physical distress that leads to anger.
3. Expect fear. When the decision-making part of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) becomes overwhelmed, it sends out signals to the primitive area of the brain (the amygdala) that controls the fight-or-flight response. This generates feelings of fear, anger and sadness. Budget for these emotions in your staff.
4. Let them own the change. There is one aspect of change that scientists believe generates pleasurable sensations: the epiphany, that moment of personal insight when people feel they personally have come to terms with an issue.
5. Lead by not leading. The prefrontal cortex is always on high alert, looking for signals that all is not right. Ordering people around, painting pictures of the world that don’t line up with people’s own realities or goals, or even offering friendly, well-meaning advice can produce distracting, fearful sensations.
6. Show, don’t tell. Learning what to do elicits pleasurable sensations; being told what to do causes the brain to produce fearful, angry messages.
7. Provide experience. People resist change because they can’t imagine what it will be like to fill a role different from the one they know. Allowing people to experience epiphanies in a new role in a controlled, safe way—such as putting an IT person to work in a retail bank before starting a project there—can help everyone adapt.
8. Focus on the big picture. Even though our brains all share some basic, high-level wiring, our life experiences make each of us unique; therefore, there is no way to paint a detailed picture of a complex project or change that will look the same to everyone.
9. Seek compliance before commitment. Neither rewards nor punishments lead to the personal epiphanies that people need to experience in order to change. Clarify what people need to do, then step aside, allowing them to discover the benefits of the new processes for themselves.
10. Make it a personally relevant story. Well-told stories are powerful. But they need to speak to the personal interests of the people affected by the change in order to appeal to the prefrontal cortex, placate the amygdala and spark the epiphanies that allow people to change.
The only thing that doesn’t change is change!
Other posts by Spike.
Staeven Frey says:
What a great observation on behavior, and from a camp
that usually doesn’t tell us much new, except the benefits of chocolate before candy seasons…
In consideration, they’re not just rules for management, but also true in relationships, creative-organization, and building energized brands. In fact, most trades. (i think). They sound like vision prinicples for a mission statement.
Those are the kinds of things I would organizations, businesses and big brands would consider when going through a brand-revamp or initially exploring themselves and the stakeholder’s needs and perceptions in the R&D stages of the brand identity process.
September 27th, 2006 at 6:29 amBrains on Fire - Orbit Now! Troy Worman’s Weblog says:
[...] Change is a Science [...]
September 28th, 2006 at 5:29 amFI Chris says:
Glad I could help, Spike! You may want to share that article with Megan; it may help some of the “changes” around here stick.
October 2nd, 2006 at 6:39 am