There is a quote by the philosopher Heraclitus which states: “nothing is permanent except change.” This quote has so much of significance in all areas of life – be it in relationships or your career. This article will help you understand how to establish the right mindset to overcome a prevalent issue among employees i.e. dealing with organizational change.
We change and our circumstances change. Therefore it doesn’t make sense to to base our happiness on external validations like our careers, other people or the material objects in our life. Instead we should be focused on creating a personal values list ; which always remains constant in times where everything is changing around us. In the book, The 7 habits of highly effective people; Stephen Covey makes reference to this referring to it as being principle centered.
Outlined below is a list of values that you should embrace that will surely put you in the right mindset. Not only to deal with organizational change – but also to embrace it as an opportunity to grow and develop in the company you work for. This includes: Maintaining the right perspective, embracing uncertainty, being inquisitive and Being one step ahead.
Dealing With Organizational Change Through A Shift In Perspective
Albert Einstein once quoted: “There are two kinds of people – those who believe everything is a miracle, and those who believe nothing is a miracle. As much as we would like to believe our circumstances are out of our control – this is not entirely true. Being the smartest species on this planet means we have the power of choice. We can choose what we want to focus on. This inadvertently affects how we feel about a particular situation and how we will react towards it.
So take the case of dealing with organizational change. You can either look at it as threat i.e. the possibility of you getting a lousy new boss, having more responsibilities or moving to a new position you don’t like. Alternatively you can look at the positives i.e. this will be an opportunity to for you to shine in a new role, you make get a boss that appreciates you more or get a position that turns out to be your true passion.
The second thing related to perspective that you need to deal with is looking at things from the perspective of your company. If you understand the need for them to change things around – you will understand their motives and intuitively want to assist them in reaching their goals. For examples: most organizational changes is to ensure that a company can stay competitive in the market place. If you look at it this way – you will realize that your job security is dependent on how effectively a company adapts to changing market conditions.
Learn How To Personally Manage Change
Why is it that some people love change while other quiver in fear at the thought of it? Could it be there are some deep seated issues from past experiences that prevent you from seeing change in a positive light. These are the questions that you need to ask yourself and question whether they are realistic enough to believe. Read the post: Intuition vs Reason: how to overcome your fears – which highlights how our intuition can sometimes be deceiving and hold us back. Since intuition is a collection of past experiences – a few bad experiences could skew our outlook on life.
Also Read: Intuition vs logic: What’s the difference?>>
So in the case of organizational change; Ask yourself: why am I so fearful of this change? Is it because of one incident in the past e.g. an organizational change caused you to lose a job? How can you deal with things differently so that you don’t get the same outcome? How are things different now – that could possibly result in a different outcome to the negative experience you had in the past? By critically analyzing the situation; you will realize that the your discomfort isn’t really called for.
Constantly Ask Questions
If you are like many people and suffer from the fear of the unknown; then a simple way to try to counteract this – is to get as much information as possible. In the case of dealing with organizational change – this means getting information. This can be from your line manager or HR department; Some important questions to ask could be:
- Why is the change necessary?
- What it the expected outcome of the change?
- Who will be affected and how will they be affected?
- What are the expected pros and cons of the new organizational changes?
- When are the changes expected to take place?
Prep Yourself For The Changes To Come
The final step in dealing with organization change is taking action. If you know what is coming then you can take the necessary steps to prepare for it. These are some possible actions that you can take to prepare yourself:
- If the company is shifting towards a new technology for example; Identify what training you can take to better prepare yourself for the changes to come. Online courses are great to gain new skills. Read: online learning disadvantages and how to overcome them before getting started
- Find out how you can get involved. Often during a new implementation for example – getting involved in the building stages will make you indispensable in a company
- Decide whether you need to start looking for a new career. Sometimes an organizational change could mean downsizing which puts your job at risk. Here are 10 job search tips never to forget if you find yourself hitting the job market again.
To conclude; dealing with organizational change can be a hard pill to swallow – especially because our jobs tend to be our livelihoods. The key however is to always stay positive and maintain the right attitude. A calm and level head will surely get you through any changes you will come to experience.
To learn how to fully achieve success in all facets of your life; read: Applying A Growth Mindset To Achieve Success
How did you overcome change in the company you worked for? leave your comments below or share with someone who needs this advice
