{"id":14580,"date":"2021-07-27T07:53:07","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T07:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseagility.university\/?p=14580"},"modified":"2021-09-12T17:05:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-12T17:05:46","slug":"understanding-change-management-from-a-neuroscience-perspective-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseagility.university\/understanding-change-management-from-a-neuroscience-perspective-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Change Management from a Neuroscience Perspective (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVijay G. Chander\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Vijay G. Chander is a Senior Change Management Specialist working for TD Bank with Innovation, Technology and Shared Services team in Canada and Certified Change Consultant (Enterprise Agility by Enterprise Agility University)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Understanding Change Management from a Neuroscience Perspective (Part 1)<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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ARTICLE\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The world is too big for us.<\/em>
Too much going on, too many crimes, <\/em>
too much violence and excitement. <\/em>
Try as you will, you get behind in the race,<\/em>
in spite of yourself. <\/em>
It’s an incessant strain, to keep pace…<\/em>
and still, you lose ground.<\/em>
Science empties its discoveries on you so fast<\/em>
that you stagger beneath them in hopeless bewilderment.<\/em>
The political world is news seen so rapidly you’re out of breath trying to keep pace<\/em>
with who’s in and who’s out<\/em>
Everything is high pressure. <\/em>
Human nature can’t endure much more!<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The above excerpt was published in Atlantic Journal dated June 16th, 1883<\/b>.\u00a0 The pace of change is still relentless and will continue till the humanity exists.\u00a0 \u00a0Our organizations have changed, the way we work has changed, technology at work has changed by leaps and bounds in the past century. When the change initiatives in organizations fail, the change managers are quick to point fingers at resisters and the rest of the organization is ready to blame poor change management implementation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

In this two-part article, my focus will not be on finger pointing but will explore the human physiological reasons for change resistance and change fear. In the second part of this article, I will focus on the brain-based Conversation techniques for the Change Practitioners to help facilitate communications with individuals and teams that can help overcome resistance or fear of change.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Why Neuroscience?<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Neuroscience provides a lens through which we can understand, “Ourselves and Others.”<\/strong><\/em> Understanding more about our brains, what drives them and what gets in the way will help Change Managers to build empathy by engaging hearts and minds during any kind of change or transformation
The word \u201cchange\u201d despite its ubiquitous nature is immediately feared because it challenges the status quo. It is normal to feel frustrated with constant change. Why do we feel threatened during uncertain times or situations? The first step in understanding the fear of change is to start by learning about our brain. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Human Brain<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The human brain has remained same for the past 2 million years. It weighs about 1.3 kilo grams; it consumes more than 20% of all our energy and has not grown larger or shrunk. However, our brains still operate as though we are still living in a hunting, gathering society of early Homo sapiens.\u00a0 The very essence of our brain in such situations or any threatening situation is to survive.\u00a0 The human brain is hardwired to seek certainty and avoid threats. Inherently, human brains resist change.\u00a0 \u00a0When we look at our work in the last 200 years, it has completely changed but human brain has not changed to keep up with changes in our workplaces.\u00a0 Our brain is not designed to for 21st century workplace.\u00a0 It is imperative for those leading Organizational Change need to understand how the brain perceives and processes change from this perspective. Understanding our brain and how it deals with “Change” teaches us to work with physiology, not fight it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a92015-2020 Neuro Leadership Institute<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Figure 1: The Limbic System<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Figure 2: Activation of the Limbic System<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Amygdala, a roughly almond-shaped mass of grey matter inside each cerebral hemisphere along with the limbic brain and the reptilian brain, together they are referred to as “Limbic System<\/strong><\/em>” (Fig.1). The limbic system also is the seat of emotions. In the time of crisis or changes, this portion of brain lights up and dictate our actions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a92015-2020 Neuro Leadership Institute<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In times of crisis or perceived crisis, the blood flows from the pre-frontal cortex to the limbic system resulting in irrational behavior. It is important to note not only for the change practitioners but also leaders that the “Distrust<\/strong><\/em>” emotion is triggered in 0.07 seconds. The distrust emotion is controlled by Amygdala (Fig. 2)
Brain’s Survival Mechanism<\/strong><\/em>: Our brains have been optimized for survival and the moment it perceives any threat it switches into survival mode. Brain continuously scans for threats and is always in default alert mode. Change practitioners and leaders need to be aware of this fundamental fact of human brains especially when speaking about change. The following points further emphasize the way our brains operate: <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  1. It’s all about SURVIVAL<\/b>\u2014 Avoid Threats<\/b> and Seek rewards<\/li>
  2. Drive for SURVIVAL <\/b>means our brains want to be able to predict and make sense of the world”<\/li>
  3. During uncertainty\/ any changes, takes away brains ability to predict and sends our brains into a THREAT RESPONSE<\/b>\u2014 Fight, Flight or Freeze<\/li><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Compared to reward response<\/strong><\/em>, THREAT RESPONSE<\/strong>:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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