AN AGILE CULTURE STARTS WITH PAUSING
CULTURE CHANGE MEANS BEHAVIOR CHANGE
The focus on being agile in the face of change is more important than ever. For most organizations, that requires a culture change, which requires individual and collective behavior change. This means that the question we need to ask is: What motivates us to change?
Too often, culture change does not work because the focus is on the new values that we want to embody; however, we miss the necessity of evolving our behavior patterns to match these new paradigms. If we do not form an individual and collective relationship with the values, they become words that we try to adhere to, but they do not change us.
WE EACH HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHANGE
Behavior change is undoubtedly one of the most overwhelming challenges we encounter. It's a complex process that demands us to become aware of and transform our ingrained thought patterns and the modification of our emotional responses. Additionally, change requires us to confront our fears connected with facing the unknown that change brings up in all of us. If we work in a learning culture, we might be encouraged to explore and feel supported in not getting it right. Still, most of us have grown up in a social dynamic or a family system where making mistakes was not encouraged, and for some, even punished. Therefore, change, mistakes, and failure to change are connected to our deep-seated attachment to familiar routines that provide comfort and predictability.
THE PARADOX OF RESISTING CHANGE TO STAY SAFE
The greatest obstacle to change is stress.
In our collective effort to bring about change, we must start with feeling supported rather than challenged into change. The most profound impact on stress versus feeling safe comes from the way we interact with each other. This interaction is inextricably linked to our ability to communicate effectively and with care.
Some might passively resist change by staying under the radar and playing victim or martyr. Others may be more aggressive and bully others to make them feel inferior so they can hide their own insecurities. And some resist change by passive-aggressively deflecting their stress by saying others are the problem to hide their own inability to learn new habits.
We often resist change to stay safe, yet staying stuck often makes us feel more alone and, with that, more stressed.
When instead we unlock our innate human advantage to adapt to change, we can be in the flow of growth and be part of the change because a person with an agile mindset can help others move from fear to confidence by pausing to ask what we each need so that we can navigate change together.
The key to creating change is to build trust in being able to handle it both individually and collectively.
CHANGE STARTS WITH PAUSING TO FACE OUR FEARS
The first step to change is efficiently managing the stress from fear of change. Under the weight of stress, our attention is frequently hijacked by fear, looming problems, daunting challenges, and the seemingly impossible tasks ahead, leading us into a cycle of argumentation about why something is not feasible.
When we fail to address this crucial aspect of stress and its far-reaching impact, we risk regressing into our automatic, old habits, which obstruct the process of meaningful culture and behavior change.
When we are in survival mode, we rely on instinct, which means we rely on the 95% of automatic behaviors that keep us stuck doing what we have always done. We think, engage, and act the way we have always done. We struggle to change instead of adapting to change by embracing a perspective of agility.
A crucial aspect of managing stress is facing our fears. Can we handle change? Do we have the tools and support to figure it out as we go? Most struggle with change because they don’t have a clear vision of the steps and expectations.
WHAT MOTIVATES US TO CHANGE?
For us to successfully catalyze culture and behavior change, it's essential to gain a deep comprehension of what drives us as human beings and what serves as a motivating force propelling us towards change. Change itself is not a potent motivator because it activates our fear. We need to pause and connect with what we care about and why it matters to us, not just our culture and organization.
Articulating what we care about, both individually and collectively is key to successful culture change. Understanding why something matters so we can build a relationship with the intended outcome, be part of the story of change, and see ourselves in it, are pivotal factors in the successful implementation of change.
When we pause to connect with what we care about and set a clear intention, we can reset our attention and create behavior change accordingly.
The first step to embracing change is cultivating the power of pause. That's how we can listen, ask better questions and make a discerning, conscious choice about how we interact and act with care, together.
