"Managing at the Speed of Change" Review 3

In the next section Conner begins to introduce the eight patterns in an organizational change. He refers to these as patterns that are most critical to successfully managing a major organizational change. To him the center of the pattern is resilience (e.g. - it is the primary pattern) with the other seven serving as supporting patterns. They are:

• Resilience
• Nature of Change
• The Process of Change
• Roles of Change
• Resisting Change
• Committing to Change
• How Culture Influences Change
• Importance of Synergistic  Teamwork
  

He says that resilience serves as the key pattern and that it is the single most important factor in distinguishing those who succeed from those who fail.

The first pattern he goes into detail about in Chapter Five is the Nature of Change. He says that we are more comfortable with change the more we are able to determine the outcome or events surrounding it (e.g. - the more control we have over the environment). He says we are "most vulnerable to change when we are surprised that we are surprised (e.g. - when it is most disruptive to our expectations)." He continues by saying that assimilation is the process used to adjust to the positive or negative shift in our expectations.

When a change disrupts our lives or work it comes with a disruption fee (even if it is a positive change) or a challenge to assimilating the short and long term implications of a change. It usually is more costly than adjusting to the change itself. Also micro changes are the ones that have the most disruption (vs. macro changes) as they have the most implications to us personally. Overall he says that it is an aggregate of changes happening all at once that usually tip us over our ability to handle the change.

So what can you do to enhance resilience around the nature of change? Conner suggests to:

• Realize that you seek control and that disruption of expectations can lead to fear
• Exhibit some level of control over the change
• Assimilate change at a speed similar to the pace of the change
• Understand how the change impacts you
  
• Face a total demand of change that is commensurate to your ability to accept change
  
  Where has change been disruptive to what you have been expecting? How can you become more resilient in that particular situation?