Rise Above the Pain of Change! Part 1<\/p>\n
You may have heard the quote; “The only thing that is constant is change!” It is true, change is inevitable but not always positive or successful! The reality is that some work cultures support positive change, while other cultures sabotage change. There are many factors involved, such as team workload, other current changes in progress, team beliefs about change, clear communication about the change, benefits of the change, appropriate training, coaching and support provided during the change, etc.<\/p>\n
I have the privilege of helping dental teams nationwide create a happier, healthier and higher performing culture that they will enjoy coming to everyday. This always involves making changes. I often observe team members roll their eyes and let out deep sighs of frustration when they hear there is another change heading their way. They stress and worry about how it will affect them and how long it will last. This article is dedicated to learning how to rise above the pain of change and make it a positive process.<\/p>\n
Change for many of us is often scary. The fear of change comes when we start the assumptions of \u201cwhat if\u201d thoughts! How many times have you been afraid to make a change because of saying to yourself, \u201cBut what if this happens\u201d? You just \u201cwhat if\u2019d\u201d yourself right out of action. Think about this. It\u2019s a biggy! How many times has fear stopped you? The ironic part is that fear is really only a negative prediction of the future. In most cases, what we worry about doesn\u2019t happen. What actually happened, we didn\u2019t even think about or worry about, and yet we still survived. Its proof that worry is a total waste of energy and time. If we can learn to evaluate the real danger, as opposed to the perception of danger (what if), we will get a more realistic viewpoint and we will be less afraid to make the change. Imagine how much happier you would be right this second if the fear of \u201cwhat if\u201d had no impact on your decisions. What would you do or change? What would your life look like right now?<\/p>\n
Change requires us to have courage to face our fear of \u201cwhat if\u201d in unpredictable and unknown! Regardless of how dysfunctional, unhappy, unproductive or toxic the current culture may be it often feels safer to keep the status quo. The known almost always feels safer than the unknown. That is why it is imperative that the value of the change be clear to those asked to make the change. It is essential that the value and benefits of change rate an 8 or above on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being high. Otherwise, the chance for the change to be positive and sustainable is limited.<\/p>\n