Transcript The Anxiety Disorders Some Practical Questions & Answers

Coping with
Change
A Practical Approach to a Common
Organizational Challenge
A Presentation for the 2009
Lake Local Schools Convocation
Kendall L. Stewart, MD, MBA, DFAPA
August 24, 2009
1Thank
you for your kind invitation and your commitment to educational excellence.
hope to offer practical advice you can put to work in your personal and professional lives today.
3Please let me know whether I succeeded on your evaluation forms.
2I
Why is this important?
• Change happens.
• We don’t always embrace it.
• In fact, we often resist it with
all our might.
• Organizational change is a
source of significant stress at
work.
• Some of us deal with change
better than others.
• This presentation will help you
cope.
• You can start using these
strategies today.
• I understand that each of you is
making a personal commitment
to your organizational vision
this year. (This may not be the
principal change on you minds.)
1We
• After mastering the information
in this presentation, you will be
able to
– Give three reasons why we tend to
resist change,
– Identify three ways we resist
change, and
– Detail three practical strategies
for coping with change more
effectively.
• Change is not going away.
• Coping with it more effectively
can make a world of difference
in your life.1,2,3
often refuse to change even when it’s clear what we are doing is not working.
once counseled a husband about what to get his wife for their anniversary.
3A farmer in Georgia was not pleased with his wife.
2I
Why do we resist change?
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1Do
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Change is often uncomfortable.
We may not see what’s in it for us. (WII-FM)
It may seem silly and pointless. 1,2
We may not have been consulted beforehand.
A compelling case for change may not have
been made.
We know how often proposed changes fizzle
and poop out.
The change may require extra effort on our
part.
We may view the change as unfair.
We may view the proposed change as a very
bad thing.
It just seems to be part of human nature.
you know the difference in the Golden and Platinum Rules?
learned a hard change lesson about administrative rounding.
How do we resist change?
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We experience strong feelings.1,2
We seek out others who share our feelings.
We talk behind others’ back.
We spin and exaggerate.
We attack those who feel differently.
We pout and withdraw.
We indulge in passive, aggressive posturing.
We create dissention and set organizational
back fires.
• Unfailingly civil and gracious, we challenge
the case for change with dispassionate
clarifying questions.
• Yeah, right.
1When
2Then
SOMC administrators announced a change I didn’t like, I became upset.
I calmed myself and figured out a better way to cope.
What practical strategies will help us
cope more effectively with change?
• Recognize your emotional
arousal.
• Calm yourself.
• Become a reporter; ask
clarifying questions.
• Clarify whether you are
being asked permission,
being consulted or being
informed.
• Figure out exactly how the
change will affect you.
• If the final decision is still
pending, make the case for
and against the change.1
• Take a thoughtful position.
1I
made a vigorous case against labeling average employees.
• Suggest other options
• Suggest a pilot study.
• Ask for metrics that will
prove the change produced
the desired results.
• Focus on results.
• Limit pointless rumination.
• Engage in healthy
distractions.
• Stop trying to reason with
unreasonable people.
• Reframe the change as a
personal opportunity to
grow.
What have we learned?
• Change happens.
• It does not always happen easily.
• Most of us would admit that change is
one of our principal challenges in the
work environment.
• And most of us would admit that we
could cope with change better.
• We now know what to do.
• But knowing what to do is rarely the
problem.
• Doing it is.1
1Let’s
use losing weight and keeping it off as an example.
What results have my changed
behaviors produced?
Began SparkPeople™
Where can you learn more?1
• Examine a British perspective by reviewing Judith
Bell’s, Teachers Talk About Teaching: Coping With
Change in Turbulent Times, Open University Press,
1995.
• Read Susan Jones’, Coping With Change at Work,
Thorsons Business, 1995.
• Consider the grief reactions that workplace changes
trigger by reading J. Shep Jeffreys’, Coping With
Workplace Grief, Revised Edition: Dealing With Loss,
Trauma and Change, Crisp Learning, 2005.
• Review some additional practical tips from Sharon L.
Mosenkis at
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FWE/is_10_6/ai_
92839910/
1Please
visit www.KendallLStewartMD.com to download related white papers and presentations.
How can you contact me?1
Kendall L. Stewart, M.D.
VPMA and Chief Medical Officer
Southern Ohio Medical Center
President & CEO
The SOMC Medical Care Foundation, Inc.
1805 27th Street
Waller Building
Suite B01
Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
740.356.8153
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.somc.org
www.KendallLStewartMD.com
1Speaking
and consultation fees benefit the SOMC Endowment Fund.
Are there other questions?
www.somc.org
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