More Answers... (02/24/26): Blizzards Be Blizzards
Hi Everyone,
Here are More Answers... to help you head into the work week. Remember, you can see previous newsletters at askchrista.com/MoreAnswers.
Today’s topic: Blizzards Be Blizzards
Blizzards, hurricanes, tornados, floods. Even extreme heat or extreme cold, weather patterns aren't just disruptive to travel, global or local, but also to lives that are usually scheduled from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed.
What I mean by that is this: sometimes we get a few days’ notice that something is coming that may stop the world in our specific geography while the rest of the world keeps going. Flights are canceled here but not there. One office can't open the front doors until the snow is shoveled away while another is operating as usual. It's not limited to travel or the workplace, either:
School schedules. Daycare. Pet care. Surgeries. Even waking up with a sore throat and realizing you do not have the right medication in the house (ouch...).
And yet, we get it done. We accommodate. We work it out and work it through.
Better at Adapting Than We Think
We hear a great deal about how resistant humans are to change, and yes, some resistance is normal and expected-- even healthy! Change can create uncertainty and stress, and no one ever got better at managing uncertainty and stress by ignoring it. You may FEEL better in denial, but you don't actually learn to COPE better, which becomes its own compounded problem.
Research on bouncing back from setbacks consistently shows that most people are far more capable of adapting to disruption than they think (Bonanno, 2004). And we know adaptation is strongest when people understand what is happening, why it is happening, and how it affects them personally (Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 2005).
We also know that when the situation makes sense, flexibility increases. And when people can see what's happening with their own eyes, or understand what's happening with their own brains (versus just being TOLD all of that)-- yes, you got it: flexibility increases.
Let's Talk About What People Need to Change vs How Bad They Are at Change
I frequently talk about how ANYONE can change and be flexible if they know how they belong, what's being asked, how they are impacted, and why they're being asked. No, you won't bring everyone along, but if we start from a place that focuses on why we WON'T or CAN'T adapt, then we are starting from a place of defeat and working ourselves INward to change.
We should instead start from a place WITHIN and work ourselves OUTward to change.
Blizzards be blizzards: everyone stays in, accommodates, becomes flexible (well, ok, maybe not EVERYONE), and they do so because one look outside a window or one opening of a door makes a disruption, a change, an unexpected shift make perfect sense.
Blizzards be blizzards. When the reason is visible and the stakes are clear, people adjust. Flexibility increases.
Booster for the Week!
"Leadership development... is about understanding what it takes to walk people into the unknown and try to build a better world."
- Dr. Taylor Harrell (now Dr. Taylor Mauriello)
Here is her 2022 TEDx Talk: What Leaders Need to Know about Change
It's a long one, but really really really good... and restorative... and fortifying... she talks about the critical mistake of not understanding the "true cause of resistance," and how "people don't resist change, they resist loss."
Minute 11:28 (Identity) focuses on Safety, Freedom, Status, Belonging, and Fairness as primary drivers for resisting change.
Enjoy!!
With kindness,
Christa
(Helpful? Interesting? Please feel free to forward and invite others to subscribe at askchrista.com/newsletter.)
References
Bonanno, G. A. (2004). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? American Psychologist, 59(1), 20–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.1.20
Weick, K. E., Sutcliffe, K. M., & Obstfeld, D. (2005). Organizing and the process of sensemaking. Organization Science, 16(4), 409–421. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1050.0133
(remember: most public libraries in the USA offer access to academic papers; however, if yours does not, then Google these papers to see where they are listed, how you can learn more about them, and how you can find similar papers to learn more about conflict management and conflict resolution in the workplace)
