“All change is harm.” 🧐🤯
My friend Caitlin Harper shared so many valuable insights on managing change in today’s Ways We Learn Podcast, but that one in particular keeps rolling around in my head.
All change is HARM.
As in: even something seemingly good, like her example of free money, changes the status quo in (definitely) unpredictable and (possibly) negative ways.
It explains why people sometimes react so unpredictably to changes we think should be good for them!
It explains why we hate those happy e-mails announcing new things at work! “We’re excited to announce that we’re implementing…” 🤮 Sure, that new procedure will be great for the organization. But it’s a new thing to learn, a new metric to meet, a new risk if NOT met.
Every change causes HARM in ways we can’t predict. Therefore effective organizational change requires deep empathy for the people changing, and a long lead-up and follow-through to ease the burden of the change and support the people changing.
Whew 😅. Thinking this way has already influenced how I’ve approached my work. (Thanks, Caitlin!)
I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts about managing or navigating change – success stories 🤩, horror stories ☠️, or anything in-between. Get in touch if you want to chat about this.
And if you want to learn a whole lot more from Caitlin, check out the whole episode (in audio or video or wherever you get your podcasts).