When we reference change at work we typically hear statements like, “Change is a constant” or “Change is the new norm”. The last few years have taught us just how true this is. COVID forced us to quickly change where and how we work. The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence is changing our global perspective on what is possible and what might be at risk. Organizations, teams, and individuals everywhere are navigating not only these changes but many others like high employee turnover, mergers and acquisitions, new market demands, technological evolutions, and more.

For most people, change is hard. To understand how organizations can help their teams and people adapt, we must start with an understanding of why change is hard for people.

We can understand this first through the lens of our physiology. Change, or the prospect of change, is often perceived by the ego as a threat to its need for certainty, security, and relevance. Anything that the ego perceives as a threat (real or not) elicits a stress response. This is not what the stress response was designed for. The stress response is meant for true emergency situations that might put our survival at risk. While most of the change happening at work is not a threat to our survival, our stress response doesn’t know the difference between a true life or death emergency or an upgrade in technology that leaves us frustrated and wondering if we can keep up.

When we experience a stress response, our natural inclination is to isolate, retreat, and protect ourselves. When we’re in this state:

• Our energy suffers. We’re physically depleted, emotionally unproductive, and mentally focused on fear-based stories;
• We can’t connect as effectively with others, even though we’re hard-wired for connection. At work, this is a problem because connection lies at the heart of innovation, collaboration, learning, and resilience – all things that help us adapt to rapidly changing circumstances
• It’s harder for us to lead with courage because we’re stuck in fear and disconnected from others

Knowing this, let’s use this knowledge to explore workplace culture and how we might navigate change effectively.

The word culture is often overused or misunderstood. At Vidl Work, we define culture as the way we relate to each other. Culture is all about relationships. There are four important things to know about culture:

1. Every group develops a culture – the question is whether it is accidental or intentional.
2. Culture is team-specific.
3. Culture is everybody’s business, and
4. The person on the team with the most influence is the leader. Because of their positional power, they are considered the “culture architect” of the team.

Transforming culture requires:
• That individuals upgrade their inner operating system so they: regulate their energy productively, prioritize connection with others, and do the courageous thing even when it’s hard.
• That formal leaders do their own personal work and know how to demonstrate, reward, and discourage the right behaviors.

Demonstrate:
• Talking about the changing circumstances candidly and with care
• Ensuring information is accurate, transparent and timely so that maximum clarity exists
• Staying out of drama by avoiding gossip and sharing information that is not accurate or true
• Honoring people’s feelings about change instead of judging or dismissing them
• Thinking effectively and helping others develop effective mental processes with powerful questions (click to access a powerful questions resource)
• With the team, identify system issues that will need to be addressed to make the change adaptation as smooth as possible

Reward:
• These behaviors in other people

Discourage:
• The opposite

Although demonstrate, reward and discourage is what I recommend for formal leaders, remember that culture is everybody’s business. Additional recommendations for everyone include:

• Clarifying the facts about what’s happening (and what’s not) - When individuals are in flight or flight often, stories are created that are not based on fact. It’s important to clarify what’s true, what’s not true, and what you don’t know (yet).
• Be honest and vulnerable with your team about why the change feels hard and supporting each other - Sharing our fears, feelings, and thoughts might feel scary or vulnerable but it’s through this type of sharing that connection is formed and teams are able to function at a higher level.
• Protect your energy and well-being by establishing and protecting boundaries and supporting others in doing the same - Be aware of your competencies and limitations and create boundaries that allow you to show up with adequate focused energy. Allow space for recovery and rest and support others in doing the same.
• Create a vision of what you realistically want to happen - When facing adversity, we often default to the “what if” stories that are not always based on fact. By shifting our energy to the ideal vision of what we want to happen, we increase the probability that it will happen. Put your energy, thoughts, and actions into what you want, and cut off the energy to what you don’t want.
• Commit to focusing on what you can control and eliminate or decrease energy spent on what you can’t - In many cases, the only thing we can control is our response. Our response will impact the outcome and wasting energy on what we can’t control wastes time and energy.

Natalie Johnson is a consultant and performance coach with over 30 years of experience working with employers globally. She is the Co-founder and Chief Visionary of ViDL (“vital”) Work, a consulting firm that supports organizations so they can function at full capacity. Natalie’s work focuses on increasing energy, creating team connections, and developing courageous leaders. She creates inspiration and extraordinary experiences for her audiences all over the world.