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Why change can freak us out and create a negative backlash
From our Human Research & Development Laboratory
Most people do NOT resist change. From the day of our
birth to the day we die, we encounter, accept, and even
embrace all manner of change in our lives.
We don't have trouble with the many hundreds of such
change events because we anticipated the change
(even looked forward to it) and felt knowledgeable and
reasonably empowered to deal with the change.
But when change is sudden, uncontrolled, and unclear
our defences automatically kick in. From a neurological
perspective our mind (1) first processes a sudden event
through the limbic system and especially the brain's
amygdala that controls emotional reactions like fear,
anger, and defensive reactions. This is the "what we
feel" brain processor.
What we feel emotionally, and our reaction to a
potentially threatening event, is aided by what we know
(2). This is the brain's memory, especially the memories
related to experiences that are stored in the
hippocampus. If a change is without meaning, context, or
explanation our brain in a split second delivers that
context from what it already knows.
A split second later what we think (3) and how we
respond to the surprising change is based on the
logical, practical-thinking part of the forebrain called the
neocortex. Change that is poorly explained results in a
defensive reaction based on the brain conjuring up a
memory that equates the word "change" to bad things
like layoffs, job transfers, cut budgets, or reduced
influence.
birth to the day we die, we encounter, accept, and even
embrace all manner of change in our lives.
We don't have trouble with the many hundreds of such
change events because we anticipated the change
(even looked forward to it) and felt knowledgeable and
reasonably empowered to deal with the change.
But when change is sudden, uncontrolled, and unclear
our defences automatically kick in. From a neurological
perspective our mind (1) first processes a sudden event
through the limbic system and especially the brain's
amygdala that controls emotional reactions like fear,
anger, and defensive reactions. This is the "what we
feel" brain processor.
What we feel emotionally, and our reaction to a
potentially threatening event, is aided by what we know
(2). This is the brain's memory, especially the memories
related to experiences that are stored in the
hippocampus. If a change is without meaning, context, or
explanation our brain in a split second delivers that
context from what it already knows.
A split second later what we think (3) and how we
respond to the surprising change is based on the
logical, practical-thinking part of the forebrain called the
neocortex. Change that is poorly explained results in a
defensive reaction based on the brain conjuring up a
memory that equates the word "change" to bad things
like layoffs, job transfers, cut budgets, or reduced
influence.
When organizational change leaves people with a lot of unknowns and a sense of
disempowerment, the emotion felt is FEAR. Fear easily morphs into action and defensive
reactions geared to protect us from harm. This primitive emotional system was first designed to
protect us from death. Now it works just as effectively to protect us from death of self-image.
CLICK HERE to see how change processes can be far less scary.
disempowerment, the emotion felt is FEAR. Fear easily morphs into action and defensive
reactions geared to protect us from harm. This primitive emotional system was first designed to
protect us from death. Now it works just as effectively to protect us from death of self-image.
CLICK HERE to see how change processes can be far less scary.
COPYIGHT: Dr. Eli Sopow, 2008