We're a big fan of putting a neuroscience lens on...well, everything about work. 🧠 Makes sense, eh?
And what's one constant? Change, change and more change.
That's why we talk about change so much.
Our brains, the constant scanner
Our brains keep us alive. Obviously, right?
One way our brains help us survive, is by constantly (often unconsciously) scanning our environments for threats and rewards. We instinctively move away from threats and towards rewards.
When we're in threat mode, we can instinctively go into fight, flight, freeze, flock or feign responses.
Here's the catch - Research shows:
💡 our brains treat social threats and physical threats equally.
💡 threats make us worse thinkers, and
💡 we naturally look for threats.
A bit of a strong cocktail there, eh?
And change brings a lot of threats. Makes sense why we're so bad at it.
What is our brain scanning for?
Two models can help us with this:
SCARF: Dr. David Rock of the Neuroleadership Institute has identified the five domains of our social needs: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness (SCARF). He states these are primary needs for us.
SPACES: Dr. Hilary Scarlett who studies organisational change, has her own model: SPACES - status, purpose, autonomy, certainty, equity, social connection.
You can see there's a lot of overlap.
Try it yourself: Test the models
Think about something that's really bothering, upsetting, annoying or frustrating you right now. Or the last fight you had with someone. What was it about?
*Note, I said something not someone!
According to Dr. Rock's research, all of our frustrations and annoyances can come back to a threat to these 5 needs:
• Status: We feel valued and know our place in the group
• Certainty: we can predict what comes next, have clarity and be sure.
• Autonomy: we make our own decisions and have a choice over our actions.
• Relatedness: we’re part of a group and have strong relationships and connections.
• Fairness: we can see that things are just, right, or fair.
Think you’ve broken the model and one of your frustrations doesn’t fit? Let us know!
Our brain during change
So, our brain is constantly scanning for things that threaten our SCARF or SPACES radars. And change does this...a lot. There will always be threats with change. Our brains are wired against it.
So what can we do? Recognise the threats, mitigate where possible, and bring in the rewards.
Any of these threats sound familiar?
Status threats
Whether real or perceived, people feel a status threat when they:
lose their job certainty
question themselves (self-doubt, second guess competency)
don't know how to do something
used to be an expert in an area, but that's what's changed
feel a loss of mana / respect
are criticised, ignored, spoken over
make mistakes.
STATUS REWARDS DURING CHANGE
DO:
💡Acknowledge people’s previous contributions & achievements.
💡Connect their skills and strengths to the future/new ways of working.
💡Ask for their opinions and really listen.
💡Provide adequate training so everyone knows how to do what's expected of them
💡Don't describe things as easy, it will make people who find it challenging feel a threat right away.
SAY:
Your opinion is valuable.
I'd like to hear your thoughts.
As the expert in [xyz], I'd like your perspective.
It’s important to me that you feel part of this process
I understand your point of view. Where do you think we go next?
Here’s who you can go to for help
I need your help / I’d love your advice
Certainty threats
Pretty much all of change is a certainty threat! Not knowing what's next, the impact of change on their day-to-day, the reason for the change, etc. All certainty threats. Our need to certainty is one of the ways our brains are wired against change. Especially transformational or ambiguous change. So what can we do?
CERTAINTY REWARDS DURING CHANGE
DO:
💡Let people know what you are and aren't certain of
💡Provide deadlines and dates as often as possible
💡Clear expectations, work programmes and prioritisations
💡Provide training in new systems and processes.
SAY:
Here's what I know at the moment and what we still need to find out
Let's be clear on how things will change from what we're doing now
Can we talk through these changes as a team to make sure everyone is on the same page?
Here's what you can expect next...
Let's talk through what we can and can't control at the moment.
Autonomy threats
We don't like to be directed and not have a say in our work. And often change at work is not change we're choosing ourselves. So it's change being done to us. Oh, and once people have autonomy in a certain area, it can be hard to claw it back. Hello, WFH-vs-back-in-the-office-debates, eh?)
AUTONOMY REWARDS DURING CHANGE
Think like a toddler-parent: You would never ask a kid if they want to brush their teeth. Because if they say no, you then have to force them to. But you might say "Would you like to brush your teeth before or after you put your PJs on?"
This can be described as controlled autonomy. You can do a lot of this during change!
DO: (if you want to that is...😉)
💡Include people in the solution.
💡Give people options when and where possible (controlled options)
💡Let people know what is inside & outside of their control during this change.
💡Show the option for what happens if behaviour is changed vs isn't - “the choice is yours”
💡Practice your pull coaching (ask questions > giving answers)
SAY: (if you want to that is...😉)
We need to get together weekly. What days / times work best for everyone?
I'd like to get everyone's thoughts about xyz. What's the best way for you to provide your feedback?
What we can't change is...Where we can put our effort is...
Relatedness threats
We're social creatures and need to feel connection and belonging to feel safe at work. But during times of change you might see collaboration slow down and silos increase. People might lose their jobs, teams might split up, you might be moved into a new role. Depending on the level of change you might notice heightened emotional responses that you normally wouldn't see.
RELATEDNESS REWARDS DURING CHANGE
DO:
💡Make time for team connection, light-heartedness, humour
💡Have 1:1's and find out what's going on for other people. You don't have to fix, just listen.
💡Highlight opportunities to continue working with that person
SAY:
I can see this is hard for you. Is there anything I can do to help you right now?
There's a lot of change happening, but what won't change is that our team is here for each other. What are the conversations we need to have right now?
Let's be clear on what everyone's role is here..
Fairness threats
People might feel like the changes happening are unfair: they don't agree with the changes, they weren't consulted enough, they're losing their job, the changes are rushed, the impact people/customers/clients, the wrong decisions are made, etc. Our fairness radars are intrinsic and strong - and change might raise the alerts.
FAIRNESS REWARDS DURING CHANGE
DO:
💡Be as transparent as possible. People don't have to agree with why the change is happening, but they need to be able to understand it.
💡Highlight the drivers for change. Is it a financial decision, one for the customer, to reprioritise focus? There are different drivers, that lead to different decisions. Be clear on what it is.
💡Be explicit about expectations during change and beyond. Then hold people to account.
SAY:
The reason for the decision is xyz...
I'd like to be as transparent as possible...
I want to be fair to everyone here. To do this I'll...
Final notes about threats during change
We do have a problem.
Change is hard, our brains hate it and it's here to stay. Change threatens our brains on a ton of levels. It's hard and it involves a lot of loss. And our brains hate both of those things.
A lot of changes at work fail. Why? I'd argue an inherently poor understanding of humans during change means we value change processes (if we're lucky) over change leadership.
Wrapping It Up: Navigate Change Together
Change can be a bit of a rollercoaster, but knowing how our brains tick helps us handle the ups and downs. Whether you're leading yourself through change or leading a team, keeping models like SCARF and SPACES in mind, we can spot the things that trip us up and find ways to make the ride smoother.
It's all about supporting ourselves and each other; let's stay connected.