In my previous post I elaborated on the woodpecker’s connection to Excel. We’ll take it from there.
You cannot push others to follow your example. You must pull them along with you. When you show by your every word and deed that you are a person of character, one who works for the greater good of the entire organization, your people will follow.
If we can make them aware that a couple of years from now, they will be more disappointed by the things they didn’t do than by the things they did do – regardless of if they leave or if they participate in the change. Raising awareness is the key point here. Enable them to rise above. If this happens, they will forget, that they complained in the beginning. We need to observe and learn first before we can grow. With dramatic changes, we are forced to let go what we have planned. This hurts until we accept the life that is waiting for us. There is something beautiful when the world falls apart and we reached the bottom of our deepest pain: humility raises and opens our doors to a higher intelligence. By change, I mean changing our perception. The moment, we change our perception – it is the moment we are “rewriting our code”. It is like applying a patch in a software program to get rid of the defect code. It is like rewriting the chemistry of our body and mind.
The Change from Believing to Knowing
When people slowly start to move from the „believing“ to the „knowing“ mode, it will be more and more difficult to keep people believing in the great illusion. I admire people, who can change their minds when presented with information that contradicts their beliefs. I have not seen many who can do that. If the change comes from the outside, they will perceive the expectations from others as the bars they used for their own cage. They are not blaming others since this is a lower awareness level. No, it is a higher awareness of clarity and truthfulness. The mind, which was closed by beliefs now opens towards wonder.
The result of a change does not really depend on the impact but more on what the people feel towards the result. People can be happy with a little change and miserable with a big change.
Like it is said in the African proverb “if you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito”. The conditions and limits exist only in our mind.
Sustain the Change; Beat the Headache
It is vital to sustain the change. There will be always people who cannot comprehend the overall picture. To make a big impact, you need to be willing to be mocked, hated, misunderstood and hear defaming about the change program. Just stay strong. You will see the result. People are not the same, they once were. Do not expect out of them what they embodied in the past. For that “old” part of them, it no longer exists. And this is the “visible” result. You will also see the change in behavior. These people are grown up and do not judge or condemn things. Now, things either matter to them or they don’t. So it is a kind of a contradiction to have them supporting in sustaining the change implemented unless it matters to them. The crucial thing is the critical mass of the group changed. It is exciting when you change and you find parts of yourself in someone else. No matter where you go or where you are, you will add value to the work, spaces and lives of those around you.
Bottom Line
In a transferred sense, before the change, we got headaches from banging the change. Now, taking the woodpecker from the beginning, he adapted perfectly. He does not get a headache from banging on trees. He has thickened his skulls and has developed powerful neck muscles that enables him to deliver sharp blows without damaging his organs.
The change continues.
It’s not only that everything is connected, everything is also in motion. Who you were, who you are and who you will be are tree different people.
At the end of the day, take one minute, walk outside and stand there in silence. Look up at the sky and realize how amazing life is.
…curious; What is the “rewriting of the chemistry of our body and mind?” How do we achieve this and how is it important in organizatinal change? Thanks
Dear Barbara,
Thanks for your question. In fact, it is the key question for transformation. If we want change, it has to go into our DNA. I believe that the environment and the signals we perceive influence our behavior. Basically, we can say the movement is where life comes from and our body responds to those signals.
The question is whether we perceive these signals as threats or rewards, as highlighted in the following blogs about the SCARF model.
The rewriting of the chemistry is related to changing our mind, biology and our body. The question is: what controls the cell? All our body receptors are built into our skin and we become aware of the environment. Hence, our perceptions control our behavior. In other words, we control our body and our genes. The genes do not control us! Newer research claim that our DNA is not our identity.
If we change our perception, we change the reading of our body. If perception controls our biology, it controls behavior and our genes and, in the end, it rewrites our genes. In simple words: What you believe creates your life.
Same applies to organizations. Corporation derives from “corpus”, the body. Employees form the cell community, which can be seen as the company (organism). In a company, the employees (cells) defer their own intelligence to follow, like the management representing the central voice (mind).
As a conclusion, the environment influences our mind, which determines the behavior of our genes or body activity. Our beliefs become part of the field, regardless if we are influenced by a threatening or rewarding corporate culture. Let’s take the example of a threatening corporate environment: If we are under stress, we do not rewrite our chemistry at a normal rate. In fact, the stress takes energy out of our bodies and shuts down our immune system.
A situation may look as if it is creating the stress, but ultimately this is not the case. Our resistance is causing the stress. Our challenge is to manage the chemistry of our emotions. Working hard for something we do not like or care about is causing stress. If organizational change can turn a corporate environment into a rewarding instead a threatening culture, people will work hard for something they love. Then we do not call it stress but passion.