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Changing on Purpose-Coach Yourself and
Others to Turn Visions, Goals, Strategic Plans, and Life
Dreams into Reality
By: Dr. Pam Brill
Originally published in the October 2006 Issue of Link
& Learn. 
Change-it was the mantra for personal and
corporate success even prior to the swoosh-embossed shoe culture where "Just"
doing it makes changing sound easy. But if changing is as simple as "just"
doing something different, why do a large proportion of change initiatives fall
flat on their faces whether it is to implement a stellar strategic plan at work
or to put those sports shoes on and get to the gym three times a week?
Let's face it; there is no "just" to really
changing; to implementing the internal shifts that enable us to generate
sustainable changes in our behaviors and in our minds-in our thinking and point
of view. Behavioral science identifies change as forces that cause stress.
Brain science provides solid evidence that supports what we know in our
guts-stress/change really does make us stupid. The fields of behavioral
science, brain science, sports psychology and mind-body medicine provide proven
strategies to get smart in the face of change. You can learn to harness these
strategies to coach yourself and others through the changes that are critical
to your organization's health and longevity-and to get yourself to the gym to
ensure a healthy and a long run.
The world-renowned economist, John Kenneth
Galbraith, identified the natural resistance that human beings launch in the
face of change: "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof." It's
true-most of us automatically shift into reactive resistance mode to changes,
even the good ones. That's because change requires major internal shifts, what
William Bridges, the thought leader on successfully traversing change, calls
"transitions."** News from the world of neuroscience, from studies that peer
into the inner workings of the brain and body, provide proof that the arguments
we craft and launch in the face of change-those arguments that John Kenneth
Galbraith identified-may not be all that smart if we don't make the transitions
that enable us to work through and override the natural resistance to change.
Change is stress. Take a look at the tools
that assess the stress level of an individual or organization. These
instruments assess changes-in job, marital status, residence, family. Even the
changes that most people desire-a promotion, getting married, a new baby-are
viewed as stress by behavioral scientists. Positive shifts are called
"eustress'-a term coined by the guru of stress and change, Hans Selye. Distress
includes the less appealing items on the list that can blindside us-losing a
job, getting divorced, making a move to a place that you don't like. Whether
it's eustress or distress, it's change. Change is stress. And, just like that
saying goes, stress makes us stupid. Brain science is proving what we thought
to be true, in the face of stress, we get stupid. Change makes us stupid. It
impairs our ability to think clearly, to think strategically, or, in extreme
instances when we feel totally under threat, change impacts our ability to
think at all. In the face of change, we automatically resort to fight-or-flight
mode, fighting as if we were defending our lives, resisting the very changes
that could ensure our survival. It is a preprogrammed response left over from
the days when differences, novelty and change really did threaten the survival
of the individual, clan and species
Believe it or not, technology that allows
researchers in the field of neuroscience and mind-body medicine to peer into
the inner workings of brain and body has provided a new lens on why change is
so difficult-and how it renders us stupid. Better yet, this same technology,
along with research from the fields of behavioral science, continues to offer
solid and proven strategies for what we can do to override the natural
resistance to change, and to get smart in the face of change. It's as strategic
as "the 3 A's" of The Winner's Way*.
Change is stress-and change makes us stupid.
It doesn't even have to be real. Research by Bruce McEwen at Rockefeller-and
others-has demonstrated that the mere thought of change sends us into a
full-blown fight-or-flight response that compromises our ability to think and
paralyzes us from implementing the strategic changes that could save our lives.
In the face of the mere thought of change, the brain and body release a deluge
strength of the natural chemical cocktail that is constantly bathing brain and
body. The chemicals include the well-known culprits of adrenaline,
noradrenaline and cortisol and a slew of other natural substances, a concoction
that, when released at this high-octane potency, sets our bodies on fire in a
state of high alert.
The signals are predictable. Investigations
into the impact of this high-octane cocktail suggest that there are
characteristic effects on three aspects of experience that impact the quality
of our results and our performance-activation, attention, and attitude-"the 3
A's" of The Winner's Way. This flood impacts physical tensions and
physiological signs. At deluge strength, heart beat rises to cardiac arrest
rate, flocks of butterflies seem to have inhabited the stomach, respiration
kicks into fast-forward, and the sweat quotient soars. Things get tense-muscles
tighten to the point that we accuse other people of causing us pains in the jaw
and lower backside. The tensions and rapid heart and breathing are signs of our
physical and physiological experience-a term called activation or arousal.
Attention narrows. The parts of the brain that enable us to attend to multiple
tasks and items, to shift attention seamlessly, to consider alternate points of
view-all of those attention tasks that are critical for implanting change shut
down as we zoom in to the problem or to the one solution-which may or may not
be the right one. But our attention is too rigid to see or to hear any point of
view beyond our own. Attitude heads south to rigid thinking and defensive
playing-not-to-lose mindsets versus the playing-to-win mindset that is
associated with peak performance under pressure including in the face of change
kick in. The chemical deluge unleashed in the face of change shuts down the
front part of the brain, the part that enables us to think abstractly, to
examine assumptions and to discard outdated ones.
Driven by this natural chemical flood that
bathes brain and body, the ability to see or hear clearly, to think straight,
or to breathe are impaired. Respiration soars while inspiration plummets and we
are driven by defensive mode. Anthropologists and social scientists hypothesize
that this defensive response to anything that is different-change!-is a
holdover from earlier days when life depended on quickly sniffing out anything
that was novel. Back then a different looking plant could be toxic; another
human who was not known could be at the door of the cave to steal your food
supply or your offspring-or to eat you. Our furrier ancestors defended
themselves tooth and nail. In today's modern day work setting, we exhibit this
defensive fight-or-flight resistance to the unknown, to future scenarios that
are uncertain, to just about any change in more civilized ways. Instead of
throwing sticks and stones, we lash out with barbed words. Rather than defend
with tooth and nail, we bite a colleague's head off or nail another in a
meeting when we feel defensive. We accuse others of causing the excess tension
and pains in our lower backsides and the throbbing aches in our heads and the
clamped jaws that lead us to sleep with night guards while we dream of
retaliating against the change that set us off on this downspin to begin with.
Excess tension, racing heart, sweaty feet that feel too cold for courage-these
are the physical signs that scream out to us that change is not such a great
thing after all. But change and embracing differences-different people,
cultures, ideas, ways of doing things-is critical to success in today's world.
The modern brain is set up to shut down under the influence of this stress
chemical cocktail unleashed with the mere thought of change. Learning to
identify the early warning signs that predate full court resistance can keep
you smart in the face of change.
Activation, attention, attitude. While I was
teaching at Dartmouth Medical School and conducting research into peak
performers who launched personal and organizational bests in the face of
pressure, including life-altering injuries and illness types of change, I
distilled the three elements that are both chicken-and-egg to the dosage of the
natural chemical cocktail bathing brain and body. There are proven strategies,
from the fields of sports psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and
mind-body medicine that you can use to tune in and turn this mighty trio around
in the face of change-so you can launch a play-to-win strategy and see it
become real.
Listen to your heart and respiration and
perspiration quotients. Change your activation to change. Breathe. It sounds
too simple, but breathing rate, respiration, is essential for embracing change.
Tune in to your breathing in the face of implementing changes whether they are
the ones to which you agreed or the ones that you feel pressured to implement.
Try this now-take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for a count of
three and release it slowly through your mouth. How does that affect the
tensions in your shoulders, the tightness in your jaw, the focus of your mind?
Get a grip. We each carry excess activation in a specific part of the body-it's
our early warning area. What about you? Do you cart high activation in your
jaw, leading you to scream when you are really stressed to the max by changes
all around you? Or do you hold it tight in your hands in which case you will
want to get a grip to get on the change curve. Next time a change is being
pitched, release the tension in your hands. Because the 3 A's are related
systemically, getting a grip will also open your ears and your mind.
Pay attention to attention. Take a different
point of view of the change. Open your lens. Attention is always selective.
When we are driven by the natural chemistry of overdrive that we exude in the
face of change, attention zooms in to see the world through our own narrow
point of view. These are the moments when we yell and scream at high activation
pitch, accusing others of not seeing our point-of-view, unaware that we are not
seeing or hearing any other point-of-view other than our own. When you are
still breathing, check in with others. Ask how they see and hear the change.
Keep breathing to keep your mind open as you actively consider seeing the
change through this different lens. Look forward in order to move ahead.
Visions and goals that will move you toward the desired end state and goals of
change can replace blame and melancholy that accompany looking back and holding
tight to the past. It is from looking forward and creating meaning for the
future that hope can assume its power over disasters, natural or manmade. This
forward-looking focus will also power you up to take possession of the
change-or your life. It's that sense of control that will fuel you for
completing your punch list that will drive you toward your destination. Look
forward to your vision, work your punch list and other goals, and watch
yourself move ahead to that state where the current situation seems like a dim
memory full of lessons learned about your inner strength and your will to
change.
Get a new attitude. Breathe, release the
tension from your neck and jaw, from your lower back, and review the
assumptions that have grounded your response to change. From this breathing
state, you may notice that some of your attitudes-your beliefs and
assumptions-are outdated. Defending tooth-and-nail against people who look
different is no longer adaptive in this ever-flattening globe where embracing
differences and changes is critical to success. Build attitude with a mission,
a purpose, for the change. Change your language to change your attitude-it's
called reframing. When it comes to reframing change, replace the words 'have
to' with 'want to' and notice the different chemistry it sets up in you.
Activation, attention, attitude-tuning in to
them to turn them around can ensure your survival and thriving in today's
flattened world where implementing strategic change is critical to survival,
success, and longevity. The great guitarist, Eric Clapton, was once asked by a
reporter how much he practiced to be so skilled. Looking confused by the
question, Clapton responded-"I never practice. I just play." View change as a
challenge and play-to-win. With your "3 A's" aligned, you can "Really Do It!"
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About The Author: Dr. Pam Brill is the
senior vice president of Learning Solutions at Linkage where she designs
customized learning solutions that combine Linkage's proprietary material into
consulting, coaching, and educational program solutions to address client
challenges-including responding to change. During her fifteen years on the
faculty of Dartmouth Medical School, Pam conducted research investigations into
the dynamics of peak performance in the face of stress, including change. Pam
has applied this original systems model, The Winner's Way, for over fifteen
years as a Psychologist consulting with individuals, teams, and organizations
for whom change was not an option-it was critical to their success and, in some
cases, for those clients facing the extreme challenges of life-threatening
illness and injury, it was critical to their lives. Pam's first book, The
Winner's Way: A Proven Method for Achieving Your Personal Best in Any Situation
(2004) was published by McGraw-Hill.
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Dr. Pam Brill will be presenting on "Really Do It! Facilitating
Strategic Change The Winner's Way" at the Women in Leadership Summit in Boston
on November 14, 2006. For more information or to register, please call
781.402.5555 or
click here
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