Orientation lost? Location difficult to determine? Acceptance, how?
Change is something that constantly surrounds us and is always within us. It is natural. But even if we know that everything arises, grows and disappears at some point – to accept, what does that mean? When something has blossomed wonderfully and beneficially, it is more natural to want to hold onto and keep it. When something begins to grow in a destructive manner, some would like to exterminate it and accelerate its re-offending as much as possible. Change is sometimes uncomfortable, demands attention, demands decisions and action. And that doesn’t make it easy for everyone to cope with. How can one avoid extreme pendulum swings in order not to blindly and deafly follow every change without criticism, but also not to rebel blindly and destructively against every change?
Identify orientation points
Where should the journey basically go, even when the storm is raging? Knowing the orientation points, what considerations and decisions should be based on in order to achieve goals, is the basic requirement for this. To exercise mindfulness within change also means to be clear why we are convinced here and now that our points of orientation from a rational, emotional and very concrete physical level bring us advantages and which goals we do not want to lose sight of. This requires careful lighting from different angles. With the flashlight of mindfulness, so to speak, to carefully illuminate individual points with our attention and sometimes to make the whole visible with very broadly scattered light. Alternating as balanced as possible.
Position-fixing
No navigation device in the world can calculate the route to the destination before the location is not clear! Where do I stand, where are we in the distance from the goals? Are we already at a good starting point or do we have to create a point of view first? Are we standing in the scenario with a view to our goals and the landmarks? Or are there threatening distractions, something that or someone pulls? Are we standing firmly on our position or on shaky legs and are easy to knock over again? Does our attention follow the landmarks? Are we standing alone? Pursuing all of these questions is worthwhile at every point along the way through change.
Promote Acceptance
To be able to take that the goals cannot always be reached directly in a change process, but that detours and obstacles have to be accepted, plays the decisive role. As soon as goals are clearly defined, the landmarks on the way to the goal are named and the attention is focused, the ups and downs, the left and right movements can be viewed more relaxed. Not to question the big picture every time direction changes, but to pay attention to whether it is a real deviation from the course or just a curve on the way brings calm and allows the ability to act.
Acknowledge feelings
Even if we prefer to orientate to rational considerations, plans and route sketches like to base them on hard facts, statistics, calculated cost / benefit and opportunity / risk considerations: In every change management it is also the feelings that are at the wheel. Whether it is a feeling of satisfaction that we may miss, a feeling of power or a feeling of powerlessness, whether it is fears or the famous gut feeling that tries to warn us … Feelings are far more involved than we might sometimes like. As precise measuring instruments in the entire control loop, internal and external change processes cannot be overestimated. The mindful recognition of the feelings of all those involved in a change process has nothing to do with sentimentalism. It is a basic requirement for orientation, for position determination and for promoting acceptance.
Mindful change management, the careful handling of change, takes all these elements into account and balances them with one another.
The definition of goals, the determination of the position, the promotion of acceptance and the feelings that play a role. This creates at least the prerequisites to avoid extremes and to swing with the waves of change without either rowing against it senselessly or getting lost in it.
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