Nothing like the oft-quoted 70% of change initiatives fail. Actually, the vast majority of change programmes are, broadly-speaking, successful in the final assessment, as against original objectives.

The journey to that success state is rarely, if ever, smooth, though.

The rough seas of change

One of the primary reasons for the tumultuous roadmap of our organisational change programmes is that every recognised change management philosophy in the lexicon is based on a logical approach.

• Strategic success means the right change at the right time.
• Implementation success is about the right approach, delivered in the right way.
• Sustainability success is achieved through the right processes and procedures to deliver ongoing performance.

Given these clear parameters, a logical approach makes perfect sense. But …

The brain isn’t logical.

The brain is emotional. The brain is socially-driven. The brain is focused on survival. The brain is bias to threat.

Given that the enduring success of any change programme is dependent on the commitment and engagement of the people affected by the change, a new approach is needed.

An approach that puts the brain front-and-centre, whilst complementing existing change management methodologies.

The potential for empowerment

Change can induce an empowering state in the brain.

We’ve all enjoyed kicking-off new initiatives full of novelty and excitement. We’ve all had that surge of inspiration and motivation for the next project that will take us in a brand new direction. And we’ve all enjoyed the deep satisfaction and fulfilment of turning things around on a failing initiative.

Why, then, do change programmes so often struggle to achieve commitment and engagement, instead having to battle resistance and uphill struggle?

The first reason is that the logical approach of most change management methodology fails to acknowledge change as the earliest sign of pending threat to the brain …

Change Idea #1: make it predictable

The brain is a prediction machine, continually mapping current circumstances to what it (thinks!) it knows and making predictions for the future.

When that sense of predictability is absent, the brain moves into its AWAY state. That shift hampers our thinking, impacts our decisions and lessens our emotional control.

This brain-fact is forgotten when we’re in amongst the pressures of a change programme. Leaders especially can be guilty of forgetting that the team doesn’t have the privileged access to information that they do.

Leaders of organisational change don’t sense how much unpredictability their team is feeling.

As a change leader, consider what you and your change leadership can further do to:

1. Make this change feel safe for all parties.
2. Make this change more predictable.

Change Idea #2: make it energising

For the brain, changing is harder than not changing.

We all know this from everyday life. It’s easier to keep doing what we’re doing (which is known, familiar and well-practised) than make the effort of change.

Science and research additionally shows us that this is true, even when we know the change is absolutely necessary – as in the case of a study that explored the deep struggles of heart transplant patients to change their lifestyle, post-surgery, even though their lives depended on it.

We can all relate to the effort of making a change. For the brain: change is literally effortful.

Making a change requires a relatively massive energy spend in the brain, over and above staying as is. For the human brain, whose primary organising function is survival, change is an energy waste to be avoided.
No wonder we avoid change!

As a change leader, consider what you and your change leadership can further do to:

1. Instil energy into every communication and touchpoint.
2. Remove the energy drains, clearing the path for your people.

Change Idea #3: make it future-focused

Whilst changing is harder than not changing … until the change is embedded:

Changing back is easier than staying changed!

For any change to stick – from individual habits to widescale organisational change – an interim strategy is needed. And because the brain is an attention economy (we get what we focus on), it’s important to place attention on what is wanted.

This is another subtle but impactful failure point of most change management approaches: too much focus on issues and issues resolution, and crucially not enough positive focus on the future state, as a (brain-friendly) response to challenges and regressions.

Rather than zero-in on the issues, the brain-based change management strategy for embedding change is to create an empowering TOWARD state, with regular positive attention on the new future. Creating excitement and optimism for the new state of things deepens those circuits and builds confidence and attachment to the future this change is creating.

As a change leader, consider what you and your change leadership can further do to:

1. Strengthen attachment to the change goal.
2. Introduce novelty and challenge with continual stretch.

Wired to resist, wired to adapt

Change, especially on the scale of organisational change initiatives, brings with it so much uncertainty and opportunity to create exclusion, that it becomes a hotbed for fear and resistance. The brain’s propensity to move away from threat and favour the status quo only magnifies opposition to change.

We are wired to resist!

The change leader who begins with a fundamentally brain-focused understanding of change sets themselves and their change initiatives apart. Because …

We are wired to adapt!

A brain-based approach can turn (perceived) threats, bias and resistance into opportunities to “look after” the brain’s (change) hot buttons: Significance. Inclusion. Integrity. Certainty. Trust.

From there, this augmented approach creates participation, engagement and commitment to the change process that just isn’t as accessible, when the change methodology remains purely logical, ignorant to the emotionality of the brain.

As organisational change both accelerates and becomes ever-more complex, we need brain-based leaders who can make use of this additional lens through which to understand people and their motivation, to cease resisting resistance, and to architect change journeys which work with the brain, not against it.

As a complement to the logic-centred aspects of our traditional approaches, consider everything you know about the brain … and place the focus as much on the emotion of change management, as on its logic.

Thanks for reading!

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