Can your trauma trigger a positive impact – Analyzing change management during the lost year.

Change can be complicated until you get used to it. Anxiety and frustration sets in when you change routines. There is a dilemma in the workspace when the manager asks you to adopt new methods to work towards the organizational goal. Very few of you will gleam on hearing you have to use new software to update your customer records. You wonder, what the change is about, why do I need to change, and eventually, where does this leave me? All the same, when an elderly family member forces you into rituals, you have never performed.

Change can either happen willingly or unwillingly. When an individual, organization, or any group willingly accepts change, the transition is smooth. Difficult and painful if otherwise. Here it’s not the ‘change’ that is at fault. It’s the nature of your thoughts and intent that makes the real difference.

Dual brain function

Science explains this phenomenon through the theory of your System 1 or ‘feeling’ brain and System 2 or ‘thinking’ brain design. Also known as ‘Type 1’ or ‘Type 2’ functions of the brain. The fundamental characteristics to why you accept or resist things in your life. Please refrain from shoving your fingers into your skull or using any scans searching for two brains. We all have a single brain. I am merely referring to its dual operating mode.

System 1 or the feeling brain is the default mode through which you respond. The feeling brain modulates your thoughts and decisions with how you have grown in your surroundings or community and forms a belief system based on these attributes. The feeling brain is at play when your actions are instant and reflexive. The quick processing is because your neural network is familiar with the events and instances. There is no stress created in the brain to decide what should you eat, whom should you speak with, what should you wear at home, what should you do to entertain yourself, or what religious belief you must follow. These are routine questions that get answered daily by your brain. Likewise, if I ask you the answer to a mathematical problem like 2+2, you would take a microsecond to answer it. 

If I ask you to explain your work’s nature, you will give a detailed account of what it entails. Behavioral scientists term this default mode as a state of ‘cognitive ease.’ You answer these without any stress as you retrieve the information from your memory. Your creativity is at its peak when there is cognitive ease as there is no resisting force that restricts your flow of thoughts. You allow it to wander in all directions because you are on familiar grounds.

Compare this to System 2 or the thinking brain. When we are asked questions that seem out of the normal, our feeling brain takes a back seat, and it is the thinking brain that applies logic to arrive at an answer. The thinking brain does not depend or seek bias. E.g., If I had to ask you how much time would it take to travel at a location you haven’t been to, you would check the traffic, mode of transport, and other variables that impact the travel. You would not randomly throw an incorrect number. Neither would you think so hard if I asked you about a location you are quite used to visiting.

The thinking brain is activated when you have to calculate, apply logic, or adapt to unfamiliar things. Since these aren’t regular, your neural network will take time to acclimatize to the flow of events. You pause and reflect to arrive at a decision. The events do not fit into your natural state of thinking and decision making. There is some degree of cognitive stress at this point as you retrieve and process information. This mode, therefore, impacts creativity as you are searching for logic, facts, and data. 

Both mind states have their pros and cons. While the feeling brain helps you with quick analysis and identifying familiarity, it is biased and leans towards personal preferences. Our brain continually avoids effort and is lazy by nature. This characteristic is also why ideas that come into your mind do not get actioned immediately by themselves. Likewise, the thinking brain forces you to act, apply logic and come up with unbiased decisions. However, constant cognitive stress suppresses creativity and can lead to ‘ego depletion—a state that shrinks your inherent self-control capability.

Impact of change on thought processing

When you juxtapose your brain’s mental conditioning, it becomes clearer why you are averse to change. It doesn’t matter at the initial stage, even if the change is good or bad. When you hear about undergoing any change in your life – personally or professionally, it’s the feeling brain that acts immediately. There is a drift from personal preference, even if it might be for the greater good. It is unfamiliar to the sequence of events registered in your neural network and therefore resists as the first guard. It is only later that you start thinking if the change is good, bad and move on with it. When you force yourself to accept change frequently over a period, it leads to ego depletion, as mentioned above. 

As you read this, you might want to counter and say that you always think rationally and never fall for bias. We often believe that we make rational decisions, and our thinking brain gets summoned at first. We assume that our instant decision is in the best interests of everyone. But this has proven to be false. Scientists demonstrated in experiments that it is always your feeling brain that acts first. Change agents have to take cognizance of this fact. Often you find change managers, policymakers, authorities shoving down rules into confused employees or citizens, which leads to dissatisfaction or protests. They would be better off explaining the problem statement as to why change might be beneficial to the group at large and significantly to the individual.

Such instances are evident in our relationships and dealings with others. Therefore, the change agent has a pivotal role in the turn of events when they step out to impact people’s lives.

Large scale change management

But can change always be voluntary? Consider the covid scenario last year. A massive global change that impacted all without seeking permission or an opinion. An enormous transition in every aspect of your quotidian life. How did you react to this change? The pandemic caused considerable pain at the surface. There was no choice for any one of us. The ordeal engulfs most of us, even after a year. But what is so miraculous about the human endeavor is that none of it has stopped us from thinking, creating, and even improving the way we function.

People complain and sob about confining to their homes and yet create wonders during the change. System 1 or the feeling brain is at play in developing a personal bias fueling our trauma. However, system 2 or the thinking brain keeps innovating with solutions to circumvent the problem.

The pandemic didn’t affect food production and supply at most places apart from those facing acute humanitarian crises. Farming and agriculture do not require human intervention for most activities today. This level of problem-solving would not have been possible decades ago, and you would have witnessed more than half of the world population starving.

In a non-digital world, we all would have lost our jobs and been on the streets may be begging, stealing to make ends meet. But thanks to our intervention with technology, you can lay on a couch at home and attend to your workplace’s most critical requirements. Children are learning with online classes; services have come closer to you than before, and even online parties get an audience to socialize. Within a year of the pandemic, we have a vaccine available in most countries. The global logistic network is ensuring this reaches out to every nook and corner of the world. 

Human cooperation

Success through cooperation is the best and oldest use case explained by Game Theory in living beings. The human intent of generosity and collaboration is pivotal to deal with change at all levels and all forms. Human cooperation gives substantial evidence as to why we thrived so well as compared to other species. The ongoing pandemic too has once again proved that with human cooperation, your suffering could be managed. The trauma then becomes a trigger to comprehend some deeper nuances of life that adjusts to the change. You may be the unfortunate victim of change, but you can always be the fortunate learner through the transition.  

Our biology and neuroscience give us enough reasons to believe why we immediately grunt when we have to alter our ways. Yet by changing your mental models, this can get simpler. I have elaborated on quite a few of these in my book Shift Left. Willfully adapting to the new norm can only ease the process. Simple physics tells us resistance creates stress. Once you have the buy-in, cooperate with fellow beings to blend into the change. If there is disagreement, brainstorm to arrive at alternatives. Reflect on the lessons learned and the diversions from the norm to create a new standard. How long will the new model prevail, and what does it impact in the long run. Cooperation goes well with self-interest. Never forget to ask, ‘what’s in it for me?

Eventually, back yourself to be a part of the change. You might either coax your fate till death for being helpless during a pandemic or stand up to narrate stories of how you managed in trying times to come out as a better person. If you have such an account, drop it in the comments section below. I shall be happy to chat. 

About the writer

Roshan Shetty is an author, corporate coach, and consultant. He trains corporates on Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Change Management, and Wellness.

His book Shift Left on Emotional Intelligence and skills required for the future is available on Amazon worldwide.

Learn more about his work at www.roshanshetty.com. Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, Cult Curator, for life hacks on well-being.