Adaptability to change is an essential skill for every team, especially in today’s workplace. That’s why leaders need to understand the science behind change, enabling them to create more resilient and agile workers. 

In a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s March virtual conference, Kevin Knox, facilitator lead at LifeLabs Learning, discussed the neurological science behind change. From looking at the change curves, he offered a simple technique to minimize resistance and improve commitment and action amidst change.

“I’ve led over 600 workshops with our various partners and clients around the globe. A common theme when I ask managers, senior leaders, or individual contributors what they’re biggest challenge is, is change,” said Knox.

In the context of employment, change could be something as significant as a reduction in force, a reorganization, or maybe a merger and acquisition that will impact the way you work. It could also be something smaller, such as moving from one project to another, losing a team member, or hiring someone new. 

Change is one of the top skills that a great leader should be mindful of and capable of leading people through, says Knox.

Whenever we are asked to do something we haven’t habitually done before, we have to give it more deliberate thought. When we’re used to doing something, we have fully formed neural pathways that allow us to do things easily. When we’re not used to something, it’s much harder since our brains have to create space in a deliberate way that wasn’ there before, says Knox. Whenever there is any sort of change that we’re up against at work, whether big or small, our brain has to do more mental work. 

However, what happens neurologically in the brain when we’re asked to change is emotionally experienced as loss. We don’t always acknowledge it in an explicit way with our teams, departments, and within our organizations, but change always comes with a sense of loss. 

“And so at LifeLabs, what we like to do in particular, is to help managers, leaders and senior leaders to understand how they might help their people, especially with the cognitive challenges that change invites,” Knox said.

At LifeLabs, they use a heuristic for the various things the brain might be monitoring for, asking questions like, ‘what are people's certainty levels? Do they have appropriate levels of autonomy? Is their work meaningful? Do they know what the work they’re working on links up to?’ 

All these things are important things that we monitor, but when change happens, every single one of these areas is impacted at some level. However, junior folks or new people to the team tend to worry first about certainty and job security when it comes to change. More senior folks want to know what they don’t know, such as scenario planning. This includes things like the macroeconomic climate or product project deliverables.

In terms of autonomy, the experience can change from person to person. Depending on the change, it could hit differently for the same individual depending on the context of the change.

The brain, by default, is a predictive engine. It really wants to have a story, to know that story, and prescribe that story, says Knox. This is also known as bias. Some biases serve us, and some don’t. 

So if we celebrate a culture of change, we create a positive bias toward that, he says. “Don’t worry about the change, don’t worry about the loss, and just stay positive,” Knox said. 

Lastly, it’s very crucial to give space for people to grieve. Organizational grief is a real, tangible thing, Knox says. Whether it’s something negative, like layoffs, or something positive like an acquisition, there is something people need to process in that change, and that is loss. 

So, as we deal with grief, the best thing to do when people are grieving is to allow them space to do so. Give them space to cognitively offload in order to process the change fully.

Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, LifeLabs Learning, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight.

Keren's love for words saw her transition from a corporate employee into a freelance writer during the pandemic. When she is not at her desk whipping up compelling narratives and sipping on endless cups of coffee, you can find her curled up with a book, playing with her dog, or pottering about in the garden.