Chapter 1

React to Change— Take a Breath and Wait

In This Chapter

• the good news about change
• burning and changing bridges
• seven strategies to help you avoid bridge-burning
• managing the tolls and trolls of change
• tolls and trolls exercise

Imagine that an organizational change has just been announced. What should you do? Panic? No, that would only make things worse. Rather, this is a time to think more clearly than ever before. What you do during the earliest stages of organizational change has the most impact on your success in the new scheme of things to come.

First of all, get over it. Take a deep breath, count to 10, close your door, and kick your wastepaper basket across your office if you must. In short, do whatever you must to find an appropriate outlet to vent your emotions and frustrations in that moment. Remember, change is inevitable and necessary for progress to occur. Even so, feeling good about change is not always easy. Change forces us to leave behind skills we have taken a lot of trouble to master. It forces us out of our comfort zone into the world of the unknown. It’s like walking out on thin ice of a frozen lake, not knowing if you will make it to shore before the ice cracks and sends you falling into the waters below.

But change isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you. What if nothing ever changed? We’d be living like comedian Bill Murray in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, living the same day over and over. Like Bill Murray’s movie character, we’d eventually get so bored we’d try to find ways to make something in our lives change.

The ability to adapt to change and learn new skills quickly can make the difference between thriving during organizational change and merely enduring (or not even surviving at all). Think of the following story as a test of how you might react to a similar set of circumstances. The story illustrates the importance of developing the key skills you’ll need to adapt to organizational change during these turbulent times. The good news is the skills in this book can be learned and even mastered by anyone on any level of the organization. This book is designed to teach you these critical skills as well as challenge any unproductive perceptions you may have about dealing with change. The main character, James Smith, has not yet learned many of these skills—so pay attention and learn from his mistakes.

Another Organizational Change?

Just a few short months ago, the view from James Smith’s office window at the distribution center had never looked so good. As manager of the center, he and his team had met or exceeded every one of the company’s goals for on-time deliveries and inventory management. Since the completion of an innovative tracking project (James’s brainchild), his department now could track a shipment with unprecedented accuracy by using a smartphone application.

“I hope the company never decides to write an application to track me,” he joked to his friends and co-workers at the distribution center. In fact, he was often heard saying, “Hey, there’s an app for that!” to mimic the success he was enjoying with this new innovative tracking application. James’s big idea also meant that the distribution center’s inventory control system was updated in real time. Although this efficient system did represent a major change in the way things were done at the distribution center, everyone was beginning to feel very comfortable using it, and were even enjoying the extra time at work and home that James’s innovative idea provided.

First Signs of Change

Then one day James received a text message about an upcoming major organizational change (See the Communicating Change sidebar). Over the years, he had seen many changes come and go and he had survived them all. He figured he would do what he had always done in the past to weather the storm by keeping a low profile. He would go along with the program and simply ride it out until it passed like all of its predecessors. But this one concerned him more than the other initiatives. This time the memo seemed to convey a sense of foreboding. All he was told was that he’d learn more about these impending changes in the near future and that for now no new initiatives were to begin until these announcements were made.

That evening he went home in a terrible mood, something he had not done for a long time. In the past, he always felt somewhat secure the changes were going to affect some other department or someone else. But this one sounded like it was going to strike a little closer to home.

“Why do they have to keep changing everything all the time?” he complained to his wife that evening at dinner.

“You need to take it easy, James,” his wife advised him as they cleared the dishes from the table. “Don’t get so upset before you know anything for sure. You’ll just make things worse with this attitude,” she advised.

“What do you mean? I’m not the one who wants to change everything—especially now that things are finally beginning to run smoothly,” James replied.

“No, that’s true. But you have always survived the changes in the past. Everything will turn out just fine. Don’t worry,” she said.

Unfortunately, James did not follow his wife’s advice. He went back to work with an even worse attitude. Everything was already going just fine, he insisted, and told anyone who would listen: “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”

When the reorganization was finally announced, James had convinced himself and everyone else in the organization that the change was negative to him. In reality, the change actually meant more opportunity for him. Unfortunately, he was so focused on the negative aspect of the change that he couldn’t see these benefits. Instead of taking advantage of the opportunities that the change might have brought, James continued to resist the change. Rather than share his extensive experience and knowledge of the inventory and distribution system, he withheld information and criticized every aspect of the change being implemented.

But the change was here to stay. Instead of growing with the new organization, he ended up in a less important role. He never understood that it was his attitude about the change that caused all his subsequent problems in the new organization.

Lessons Learned

What lessons can you take from the change resistant distribution manager who let his fear and anxiety get the best of him and his formerly positive attitude? Here are some key points to consider.

Don’t Burn Your Bridges

Change can be a very emotional time. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you during these critical moments. You may say or do things you regret later on. No matter how upset you may be today, you will still need a job tomorrow.

This is not to suggest that you should hide all your feelings and emotions. You should express your concerns and try to find out how legitimate they really are. But you need to do it in an appropriate, professional, nondestructive manner. Listen carefully to the reasons why the changes were made. Find out what’s expected of everyone to support the new initiatives. This can be particularly important early on in the change process.

Remember that ultimately, you will be judged on how well you supported the change, not how upset you were, so it is important to channel your efforts and energy in the right direction. This was something James Smith failed to do and it turned out to be a big mistake. Instead of being seen by others in the organization as an important contributor to making the changes work, he was viewed as an anchor—something that must be dragged along and slows down progress.

It’s OK to Change Bridges

A bridge allows you to proceed over what would otherwise be an insurmountable obstacle. As we travel by car or train, bridges allow us to move across water, valleys, or difficult terrain. We come to bridges in our careers as well, and we can choose to cross or not. These bridges may not be made of wood, stone, or steel, but they do help us get where we want to go. Instead of building bridges to help you get where you want to go in the future, an attitude like James Smith’s only burns them down.

Think of organizational change as another bridge to cross. How can this bridge lead to future roads? How can you fortify these bridges of change to let you safely cross? Maybe the reason many of us choose to burn these career bridges rather than take advantage of them is that we often see them as obstacles that need to be removed, not bridges to a better path. By resisting change we might think we’re removing a barrier when in fact we are burning down an important bridge. James Smith saw the next organizational change as a barrier to accomplishing his goal of improving the efficiency of his company’s distribution system. He destroyed this bridge and consequently blocked his own career progress.

When changes are made, organizations assess the damage and pay attention to how people respond or react. You don’t want to get on the casualty list of victims that aren’t going to survive—much less thrive—during the change.

Seven Strategies to Help You Fight Bridge-Burning

The following are a few ways to avoid burning your bridges during organizational change and repeating James Smith’s mistake.

Don’t Self-Destruct

As much as you would love to see the changes go away and everything return to the way it was, it’s just not going to happen. You’re bound to experience some strong emotions, maybe even bad feelings. Feeling upset or anxious about any significant change in your life (be it at work or at home) is a perfectly natural reaction. The point is you shouldn’t let these feelings cause you to become self-destructive. Venting your emotions during times of change in an appropriate and professional manner is one thing. Taking these emotions so far that you actually harm your reputation, career, and relationships is something else entirely.

Every change brings with it some sense of loss to those who are affected. In this sense, experiencing change is like mourning the loss of someone or something important to you. Understand that you will go through these emotions and that you need to find a way to continue with your life despite this loss. Time can be the most important factor in making these difficult life adjustments. Just don’t let your emotions cause you to do or say things you may regret later on, particularly just as the change is introduced.

Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk

As usual, your mother gave you the best advice. There really is no sense in crying over things that have already happened and therefore will not change. The best thing to do is to pick up the pieces and go on. It is amazing how quickly we forget some of these valuable lessons from our childhood during organizational change.

Be Careful Who You Complain to and What You Say

Remember that cubicles have ears. This doesn’t mean your phone is tapped, or there are hidden microphones all over your office. What it means is there are very few secrets in the workplace. People hear things in the normal course of their workday. As the cartoon character Dilbert is constantly discovering, work life in a cubicle does create many interpersonal challenges! Have you ever been part of a conversation such as the following? How likely is it that the conversation will stay a secret?

How long do you think this will be a “secret” conversation? By the way, who do you think is going to get Jerry’s job when he leaves?

Don’t Begin Your Own Silent Protest

Protests may be effective during times of social turmoil and unrest, but they have no place in the office, no matter how subtle. A silent protest is carried out in different ways. Some people refuse to acknowledge a change even happened. For example, they use old terminology or refuse to use new technology or procedures instituted at significant expense.

Another popular protest is to become a martyr for the rest of the organization’s change resisters. Although these types of protests might gain some early support from co-workers who feel they have also been treated unfairly, the protester will ultimately lose the support of the majority as they adapt to the changes. They may begin to resent the fact that they had to go along with the change and the protester didn’t. Or they may see the protester as an obstacle to progress rather than as a defender of the past.

A few other protest tactics to avoid include feeding the rumor mill with complaints and writing angry letters to the leadership. Although this may feel good in the short term, it could come back to haunt you later in your career. The lesson here is simple: If you’re going to make a fool of yourself, don’t create a permanent record of it for future generations of bosses.

Don’t Say Anything You’ll Regret

Even the sincerest apology can’t totally undo what has already been said. “Loose lips sink ships” is as true when it comes to organizational change as it is in naval engagements. Before you explode in frustration or anger, make sure your brain has had a chance to consider the long-term implications of everything you say. Like elephants, organizations seem to have incredibly long memories for such things. Similarly, don’t make pledges such as “I’m never going to go along with that change.” You just know that’s a promise you won’t be able to keep. These kinds of statements only put you in a lose-lose position as the changes become inevitable.

Maintain Your Self-Esteem

You are the same person you were before the change was announced. If you felt good about yourself before, then don’t let the changes in the organization affect your self-perception. Why should they? There are countless reasons why and where people are positioned during organizational change, many of which have nothing to do with their competence or performance. Others quickly pick up on how you are feeling about yourself.

If you think you should be pitied, then that is the way people will treat you. But if you’re seen as being a strong character even when things are not going your way, you’ll be treated like you are strong. The experience may enhance your self-esteem and consequently what others throughout the organization think of you. If you think becoming more respected in the organization as a result of being passed over for a promotion seems a little far-fetched, think of it like this: There is nothing else you can do about it that wouldn’t be self-destructive. Regardless of how you feel, you will find it more beneficial to act like a winner, not a whiner, in the new organization.

Maintain Your Working Relationships

Your relationships with others in the organization are even more important during times of change. Think of maintaining your working relationships with others in the organization as strengthening the bridges that help reach your ultimate goals. Many of these relationship bridges take a long time to develop. Maintaining them is like doing bridge repair. The best time to do the repair is before the bridge falls down. Although changes in the organization will stress these relationships, it is up to you to keep them intact. The key question to ask is this: Are my working relationships strong enough to bear the maximum stress they may experience during times of organizational change, or are they only able to hold together when it is simply business as usual?

Tolls and Trolls

The bridge analogy works well to discuss another key aspect of facing the initial phase of most change initiatives—the costs and inherent dangers most of us face during change.

Career Tolls

Many bridges we cross in our cars require a toll, and everyone using the bridge must pay this same cost. No one gets across for free. When we come to bridges in our careers there is often a cost or toll we must pay as well, and like our actual travel experiences, no one gets a free crossing.

Unfortunately, career bridges include emotional as well as financial costs.

Career Trolls

Trolls, as you likely recall from reading fairy-tale stories, are ugly creatures who live under bridges and whose job is to prevent travelers from crossing the bridge. The obstacles we encounter on our career paths may not physically appear as a huge ugly creature, but they can be just as frightening or debilitating. These emotional trolls are the images and anxieties we sometimes create in our own minds when we face change. James Smith, in the story above, is a good example. He conjured these emotional trolls in his own mind and blocked his progress to a better place in his organization. He then found himself on the other side of change, looking across at others who progressed on their career journeys, and wondering why he got left behind.

Tools, Techniques, and Exercises

This section gave you a quick overview of the major mistakes that those involved in change typically make. The following section gives you an opportunity to reflect on your own change experiences and to incorporate what you have learned so you’ll be able to take a breath and wait the next time you face a change situation.

Here are the seven behaviors to avoid during change that are absolute bridge burners in addition to their career-limiting potential. Put a check by the ones you did not avoid while you lived through a change initiative in your own career. How might you avoid a repeat of this behavior during future change efforts in your organization? Jot down your answers in the space provided below.

1. Don’t Self-Destruct
2. Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk
3. Be Careful Who You Complain to and What You Say
4. Don’t Begin Your Own Silent Protest
5. Don’t Say Anything You’ll Regret
6. Don’t Lose Your Self-Esteem
7. Don’t Destroy Your Working Relationships

Tolls and Trolls Exercise

Take a few moments and think about some tolls you have paid on the career bridges you crossed during change experiences in your career. Jot down your answers here for later reference.

 

 

Do you have any of your own emotional troll experiences? Can you identify and describe these troll experiences? Jot down your answers here for later reference.

 

 

How might you eliminate these trolls that have blocked your career progress in the past?

 

What’s Next?

OK, so you’ve managed to avoid making serious mistakes as the change initiative is introduced. Now, you need to figure out how to put yourself in the best position for the coming changes. Chapter 2 provides some practical advice on how to position yourself to win.