Change as a Need or

Forced
 CHANGED AS A NEED

Crisis: Obviously September 11 is the most dramatic example of a crisis

which caused countless organizations, and even industries such as airlines
and travel, to change. The recent financial crisis obviously created many
changes in the financial services industry as organizations attempted to
survive.
Performance Gaps: The organization's goals and objectives are not
being met or other organizational needs are not being satisfied. Changes
are required to close these gaps.
New Technology: Identification of new technology and more efficient
and economical methods to perform work.
Identification of Opportunities: Opportunities are identified in the
market place that the organization needs to pursue in order to increase its
competitiveness.
Reaction to Internal & External Pressure: Management and employees,
particularly those in organized unions often exert pressure for change. External
pressures come from many areas, including customers, competition, changing
government regulations, shareholders, financial markets, and other factors in the
organization's external environment.
Mergers & Acquisitions: Mergers and acquisitions create change in a
number of areas often negatively impacting employees when two organizations
are merged and employees in duel functions are made redundant.
Change for the Sake of Change: Often times an organization will appoint a
new CEO. In order to prove to the board he is doing something, he will make
changes just for their own sake.
Sounds Good: Another reason organizations may institute certain changes is
that other organizations are doing so (such as the old quality circles and re-
engineering fads). It sounds good, so the organization tries it.
Planned Abandonment: Changes as a result of abandoning declining
products, markets, or subsidiaries and allocating resources to innovation and
new opportunities.
What organizations can change fall into the following broad areas:
Mission, Vision, & Strategy: Organizations should continually ask
themselves, "What is our business and what should it be?" Answers to
these questions can lead to changes in the organization's mission (the
purpose of its business), its vision for the future (what the organization
should look like), and its competitive strategy.
Technology: Organizations can change their technology (for example
the way they produce whatever they sell) in order to increase efficiency
and lower costs.
Human-Behavioral Changes: Training can be provided to managers
and employees to provide new knowledge and skills, or people can be
replaced or downsized. As result of the recent financial crisis, many
organizations downsized creating massive unemployment that continues
to this day.
Task-Job Design: The way work is performed in the organization can
be changed with new procedures and methods for performing work.
Organizational Structure: Organizations can change the way they
are structured in order to be more responsive to their external
environment. Again to be more responsive to the marketplace, this also
includes where decisions should be made in the organization
(centralized or decentralized).
Organizational Culture: Entities can attempt to change their culture,
including management and leadership styles, values and beliefs. Of all
the things organizations can change, this is by far the most difficult to
undertake.
These are the major elements that organizations can change. It is
important to note that changes in one of these elements will usually
have an impact on another element. As an example, changing technology
may require changes in the human-behavioral area (new knowledge and
skills on how to use the technology).
 Things to Do When Change Is Forced on You

1. Rest and relax. Take a deep breath and don’t react; and don’t make any
quick decisions. You need time to evaluate the situation; time to get past
your emotions, and think rationally. So do something fun just for you.

2. Grieve. You’ve lost something that was valuable to you. Let your
emotions flow. Feel the pain. So that you can get past it. Don’t numb it
with drugs or alcohol - that will only delay the inevitable and retard your
growth.

3. Lean on the people you love for support. Your friends and family will
help you get through this. Let them know; don’t keep it to yourself.
Talking things out will make you feel better, and your support group may
have some good suggestions for you on what to do next.
4. Assess and assimilate the new information. After you’ve finished
grieving, don’t look back and wonder what you could have done
differently. Resistance is costly, or - if you ask the Borg - futile. Look
instead to see what you can learn from this situation, and start to
determine how you’ll move forward.
5. Meditate. Find the stillness and calm your mind because this will allow
you to achieve some clarity in your thoughts and feelings. You need clarity
to help you choose your next direction.
6. Focus on your goals, or your purpose in life. You can best maintain
these by knowing that the path to reaching them may change, but that
doesn’t mean you have to change your goals.
7. Count your blessings. Take some time to remember your
accomplishments and what you still have. Pat yourself on the back
because you’ve done a lot with your life.
8. Keep a positive attitude. Look at change as an opportunity. You’ll
learn new stuff, do new activities, and when you’re experiencing new
things - you are opening new channels of thought in your brain. You’re
creating new electrical connections between your brain cells. You’ll
have more information with which to be creative. All the while
stimulating the dopamine receptors in your brain which make you feel
good.

9. Live in the now. When you live in the present and focus on what you
can do right now, you can’t at the same time dwell on the past or freak
out about the future. Thinking about the past - what was lost - leads
to depression. Thinking about the future - worrying about what might
happen - leads to anxiety. Think only about what you need to do today
and work on it, and you’ll get through and past your pain.