How to embrace change as a spectrum

As we write this reflection on how to embrace change, we cannot begin without acknowledging the space in which we find ourselves. In our combined 12-plus years as members of our campus community, at least three large change initiatives have been going on simultaneously every single year. Most change experts would likely highly advise against this approach; however, here we are.

So, we have decided that, in offering advice to university staff, rather than looking at each change independently, we will reconcile it this way: we work in a complex, rapidly moving environment. Somehow, for us, rarely using the word “change” in our nomenclature helps. Our job as the workplace learning and professional development team is to help our campus community navigate this environment.

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We believe that seeing our fast-moving environment as a spectrum along which an individual’s comfort level can fluctuate is a great place to start. Often navigating this environment requires letting go of a way of doing or being and transitioning to something new. Even when the thing being let go causes pain or aggravation, community members are often unwilling to release it because of the safety found in what is familiar. The concept of a complex, rapidly moving environment can be scary for some in higher education; for others, it brings feelings of growth and excitement – and action.

In a 2022 Capterra study about change fatigue, 71 per cent of respondents said they were overwhelmed by the amount of change at work. The study further states that we must implement better change-management strategies and techniques to maintain our best talent.

So, let’s embrace this idea of organisational change as a spectrum. Adapting to the complicated environments we find ourselves in as university staff is a journey that spans emotions and responses. It is crucial to acknowledge every individual’s experience as unique and valid. By recognising and understanding this spectrum of adaptation, we can better navigate movement with empathy and awareness.

So, the questions become: where are you on the spectrum? And how do you process shifts in your environment? Here is some advice on embracing higher education’s complex, rapidly moving environment.

Take time to reflect and enquire into resistance

Active resistance can include being critical or finding fault, and these types of active resistance can also distort facts and lead to other undermining behaviours such as appealing to fears about what will be lost (rather than what might be gained). Resistance is productive when we enquire into that resistance and open up dialogue about where specific criticisms are coming from.

A framework to use when enquiring into resistance is to verify and clarify. You want to verify facts and clarify beliefs and values. It can be easy to find fault or to criticise, but where is the information coming from? Is it true? Be curious and ask yourself questions such as:

• What information is this based on?
• What additional data do I need?
• How did I arrive at this conclusion?

Be curious, ask questions and clarify beliefs

Next, clarify beliefs that are sometimes taken as facts and can filter how we perceive the situation. Challenging unviable beliefs can prompt alternative perceptions and open up dialogue in meaningful ways. To start, clarifying beliefs takes self-reflection, and it can be helpful to question ourselves first:

• If I try this change, what do I think will happen?
• What opportunities do I see?
• What is another way I could view this?

It is also essential to clarify values and understand the “how” and the “why”. This is important. In other words, you want to see how this activity aligns with what you value. You can seek answers to questions such as:

• What’s most important to me?
• What outcomes would I like to see from this change?
• How would I prefer to deal with the changes?

Look for ways to get engaged

Finding ways to plug in with what is happening can lessen those feelings that something is “happening to me” or being “thrust upon me”.  If you can’t be directly involved in creating the new policy, process, system or practice, other ways to get involved might include: 

• Participate in events that keep you plugged in, such as question-and-answer sessions and town halls, to gather more data.
• Become a formal or informal champion of new initiatives. Often these people get advance access to knowledge and can help roll out activities as they take shape.
• Volunteer to review information or materials, participate in focus groups, provide feedback, support testing or ask for other ways to contribute. With more involvement, you may find that you have more buy-in because you contributed to the thing that is being created.

Of course, these questions are not exhaustive and are meant as a start to enquire into embracing our complex, rapidly moving environment and the emotions that follow as a spectrum.

All this is to say – none of this is easy! However, by taking time to reflect, get curious, plug in, get engaged, you too can approach transition with a new mindset.   

LaTrese Ferguson, Rachel Watts, Bryan Harber and Tim Edmonds-King are all workplace learning and professional development team members responsible for professional development for our campus community. LaTrese Ferguson is the director of workplace learning and professional development, Rachel Watts is a senior learning consultant, and Bryan Harber and Tim Edmonds-King are learning consultants; all are at Georgia Tech.

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