Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Not many people find exactly what it takes to spark change. At least not the effective, lasting or systemic kind. Any revolutionary needs where you work?

In his book, Epic Change: How to Lead Change in the Global Age, Timothy Clark claims that change is not a choice. It’s an imperative in today’s high-speed, ultra competitive, global environment. Do you agree?

I especially appreciated Clark’s thoughtful reflections on the human factor … that either enhances or obstructs change. This mind-bending book will be a real asset to my daily work in change ... and sits on a shelf I can reach easily for reference.

His wisdom comes from excellent experience as well as from 300 executives he interviewed about their involvement in the change process.

Clark builds a case for the fact that leaders themselves can prove to be obstacles … and that fact lead me to consider how the human brain can work against change. How so?

1. When faced with challenges that appear too massive to accomplish … the brain tends to revert to tone that works against growth.

2. When stress builds in any workplace, through uncertainties of change … the brain retaliates with cortisol that shuts down progress.

3. When people feel anxious during assessments, because they sense they’ve underperformed … they lose their balance of mental chemicals that drive success.

4. When road blocks seem too high, workers forget to laugh … and so they block the neurons pathways to laughter that adds energy for change that sticks.

5. When problems grow bigger than solutions in a  workplace … or when errors gain too much focus, the human brain’s plasticity wires for more of the same problems.

Are you beginning to see how the human brain may be the biggest barrier to the change that Clark champions. I am glad he also sees change as no longer a choice. In fact I plan to highlight many more of his EPIC CHANGE revolutions. What one trait would create effective change that lasts – where you work?