As we enter the post-pandemic workplace, it would seem that the basic requirement of an agile workforce ready for change is more critical than ever before. However, change can be difficult. Each time an organization goes through any sort of change, some individuals/groups will gladly leap forward with enthusiastic anticipation and others will seem to be wearily burdened by the very notion.
Within the workplace, the latter is often labeled as resistance. Resistance that some colleagues and business leaders characterize as irrational or based on a lack of understanding. Other “experts” will even tell us that the reason we struggle against change is that all the change we see makes us exhausted. But it is not resistance, and it is not exhaustion that makes us resist change. Quite simply, we get Stuck.
Getting Stuck is a biological response to change that is rarely explored and even more rarely acknowledged in the workplace. We build entire algorithms, schema, or mental models that work like roadmaps to navigate the world. Those roadmaps are deeply wired into our brains. When a change comes along, it often requires us to rewire these algorithms. Our instinctual response says “whoa…maybe this is not a good idea…” From the brain’s perspective, we like things the way they are. We get Stuck because our brains get attached to the way things are today. So how do you get UnStuck?