Introduction

Organizations are changing at a phenomenal pace today. Nothing happens in a vacuum and everything has a ripple effect. These changes are caused by any number of events including

• a change in management or the instruction of new leadership teams
• a merger with or an acquisition of another organization
• the introduction of new or upgraded technology
• a market shift that increases competition
• world or political events that interrupt or change current business practices or models
• endless other events or circumstances that introduce change.

No sooner does one change end than another one begins. These changes come in a variety of forms and may be called by many different names, such as reorganizations, downsizing, rightsizing, realignments, streamlining, and so forth. Regardless of what change is called, the end result is that the careers and ultimately the lives of employees are affected. Sometimes the change produces a positive outcome; other times change may mean reassignment, different responsibilities, or even job loss for some employees.

Impact of Change

Despite all the possible upsides (positive new ways of doing business that make life easier and better for everyone involved) and downsides of change (such as losing your job or getting a difficult new manager), nearly everyone involved in the process begins their journey with a certain amount of anxiety, fear, or frustration while adjusting to the new circumstances of their work life. Regardless of how you are personally affected by change, you don’t have to be a victim of the new organizational structure, team assignments, or composition or reporting requirements. Instead, you can choose to welcome change. This book offers you a set of positive strategies and techniques that not only allow you to survive change but also will help you thrive in the chaos around you.

Why New Techniques Are Needed

Organizations and their employees operate in a hyper-connected world, fueled by mind-bending technological innovations that demand rapid decisions in order for businesses to remain competitive or even relevant. As a result, employees have precious little time to adjust to change, to evaluate the impact on their jobs or lives, and to plan or consider reasonable strategies for coping. Suddenly, despite all the social networking or personal communications networking, change happens and important, even career- or life-shifting decisions are required.

In many ways, the value of this book is most evident to those caught up in that first windstorm of change possibilities, when questions arise so rapidly that processing them is nearly impossible. Questions such as:

• What should I do next? What’s my best move?
• How will this impact my career?
• Is there anything I can do to prepare for the change?
• How can I put myself in the best position to win?
• How proactive should I be?

This book answers these questions and many more equally important questions that naturally flow from these events. Not only will familiarity with these techniques and tools help tamp down the natural fear and anxiety, but you’ll also be better prepared the next time you find out about organizational change (officially or unofficially) through an email, tweet, Facebook message, or even a colleague or manager’s personal visit to your office or workspace. You’ll be able to face the news with a clear, strategically sound line of sight that will allow you to position yourself to win amid the current chaos and prepare to come out on top when the next round of chaos inevitably happens.

What’s Ahead

Here’s the path this book will take to allow you to face change with calm confidence. The book contains 10 chapters, each of which offers specific winning strategies to help you cope with change. Here are the 10 chapters followed by a brief synopsis of each:

Chapter 1: React to Change—Take a Breath and Wait

Chapter 2: Understand Change—Position Yourself to Win

Chapter 3: Fight or Flight—Decide on Your Strategy

Chapter 4: It’s Not Just You—Manage Your Worry

Chapter 5: You’re Looking Good— Why Attitude Matters

Chapter 6: Get Over It—How to Communicate “I’m On Board”

Chapter 7: Get Some Political Savvy—Play the Game Well

Chapter 8: Make It a Career Positive—Find Opportunities Amid the Chaos

Chapter 9: Don’t Let Your Guard Down—Prepare for the Next Change

Chapter 10: Conclusion—Lessons in Change

Chapter 1: React to Change—Take a Breath and Wait

Change can be overwhelming at times, especially when it’s unexpected. Sometimes it’s best to take a few moments or longer to gather yourself before instinctively reacting to change in unproductive ways. You could say or do something that you regret later on. This chapter provides you with tips and advice on how to deal with change in a more positive manner.

Chapter 2: Understand Change—Position Yourself to Win

It is important that you understand what’s behind the change that is occurring in your organization. Having this better understanding and insight can help you deal more effectively with change and can even make it work for you. Timing is also a critical factor when it comes to communicating organizational change. People initiating change sometimes may seem to be insensitive toward those directly affected by it because they have already had time to process and accept that these changes are going to occur. Also, generational differences can be an important factor in how people react to and accept change. Paying attention to all of these factors is important in dealing positively with change.

Chapter 3: Fight or Flight—Decide on Your Strategy

Different people have different natural reactions to change. Some people may have the tendency to be more passive or to simply avoid the issues that change brings. Others tend to react more aggressively by trying to take control of the situations that change creates. This can translate to a variety of responses to change, ranging from leaving the organization if unhappy with where they are as a result of change, to staying unhappily in the situation. The point is that people need to do one or the other. The worst thing to do is to stay but to become disengaged in your job. This will only make matters worse.

Chapter 4: It’s Not Just You—Manage Your Worry

This chapter helps you deal more effectively with the worries that change often creates. A Worry Log Index is introduced in which you record the things that you might be worried about at the beginning of a time period and then record how many (if any) of these worries actually came to be true. The result that you will find is that you may be worrying about more things than you need to and that most of the things we worry about never actually occur. Understanding this can help reduce your stress about change.

Chapter 5: You’re Looking Good—Why Attitude Matters

This chapter provides you with a self-assessment concerning your attitude and feelings about change to help you identify more clearly how you tend to react to change and how you might be able to change your attitude about change for the better. It also introduces a pyramid model of change which illustrates the five progressive levels of accepting change: surviving, adapting, understanding, accepting, and welcoming. The chapter also discusses how others in the organization view your attitude about change and the effect this collective impression can have on your career.

Chapter 6: Get Over It—How to Communicate “I’m On Board”

Aligning your expectations and goals regarding change with those of the organization is important—especially to those who sponsor change. Letting decision makers in your organization know that you will do whatever you can to support change can also be important to your future and career with the organization. The chapter introduces the concept of the Change Box and explains that change can bring unexpected results which you may never be able to fully anticipate. Often what you think may not be a good change for you can end up bringing something unexpectedly positive into your life.

Chapter 7: Get Some Political Savvy—Play the Game Well

Like it or not, organizational politics is always going to play a role in your career. Being or learning to be politically savvy is something that can help you survive organizational change in the future. Like politicians running for public office, your image in the organization is important to those who will make decisions affecting your career in the future. This chapter provides you with guidance on how to deal with this reality, especially during times of change.

Chapter 8: Make It a Career Positive—Find Opportunities Amid the Chaos

The chapter introduces the 10 rungs on your career ladder to success, which are: add value to your position; let others know what you want to do; ask others for their help and support; develop a strategy for success; learn new skills; make yourself indispensable; don’t underestimate your competition; keep on networking; enhance your personal image; embrace change.

Chapter 9: Don’t Let Your Guard Down—Prepare for the Next Change

Learning to predict changes can be an important competency to learn to be better prepared for what changes will occur in the future. This chapter introduces the concept of Change Capsules, where you are asked to predict future changes in your organization and then at a later date, see how accurate you were in your predictions.

Chapter 10: Conclusion—Lessons in Change

The final chapter focuses on what you have learned about change from your own personal experiences. This is based on the idea that we constantly learn and relearn the same or similar lessons about change all the time. If we take particular note of these constant lessons, we can be better prepared and more accepting of change—or welcoming of change— in the future.

How to Use This Book

This book is intended to be an interactive experience for the reader. The book is filled with exercises, models, assessments, and other tools to help you not only better understand the concepts presented, but also to apply them better in your working life. Take the opportunity to utilize these learning tools to the greatest benefit by completing as many as possible as you read this book. If you are a trainer, you will see that these tools provide you with effective and unique teaching tools to use as part of your classes about change. This book could be an excellent teaching aid and requirement for your participants.