Don’t Manage Change. Shape It!

HoT | Why Change Is Hard, and What to Do About It.

Photo by Yuriy Vinnicov on Unsplash

We say people resist change.

But it’s not change they resist. It’s the way change is introduced: against their nature, beyond their culture, outside their structure.

When change is forced from the top, something tightens. The body reacts before the mind becomes aware. The system contracts, and we refer to it as resistance.

We don’t resist change because we’re stubborn or slow. We resist it because we are wired for survival, and most change programs feel like danger.

If we want to transform how we work and lead, we must stop managing change and start shaping it.

Nature. Culture. Structure.

Your brain is layered through time, from basic survival to complex thriving, from raw nature to high culture and advanced structure.

Nature resides in the oldest part of the brain, the reptilian brain, which is approximately 600 million years old. Its language is sensation and pattern. It reacts instantly, asking only: Am I safe?

Culture lives in the limbic system, the emotional brain. It is approximately 25 million years old and deeply cares about belonging. Its questions are social: Am I loved? Do I…