Your Brain on Change

The first thing we need to understand about the human brain is that it evolved to keep us safe in a dangerous world, where our ancestors met deadly threats at every turn.

In many ways, our brains—especially the more primitive parts—are still operating like they were back in those early days, constantly on the lookout for threats and responding with lightning speed to prepare us for fight or flight, our two most successful survival strategies.

Bias against change. Every change is a potential threat, and since it is much safer to assume that a change in our environment is a threat and act accordingly than to assume that it is positive, human beings have been hard-wired to react negatively to any and all change—at least until we receive more information.

Stress. With each successive change we become more alert to the patterns of change and what threats they may bring to our safety, our economic security, or our self-esteem. Employees can suffer from “change fatigue,” a condition that looks like a mild form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In a change fatigue state, the employee is experiencing stress, a condition brought on by repeated exposure to a fight or flight response. When the brain is under stress, our ability to think clearly and make decisions is greatly diminished. So it may be very difficult to reach employees who are in this state simply by explaining the facts to them—they are paying so much heightened attention to the potential threat that other messages have a hard time getting through to them.

Ironic process. Another byproduct of stress or severe mental overload is an interesting behavior by which we actually produce the results that we are trying the hardest to avoid. Golfers and other athletes understand this theory all too well. If we pay too much attention to the thing we are not supposed to do, this focuses our minds on that action so powerfully that we may almost feel compelled to do it. (I no longer tell myself, “Don’t go into that sand trap” for this reason.)

Switch cost. Contrary to popular belief, the brain does not multitask. Instead, it switches between tasks. Each time the brain switches tasks there is a loss of performance. When the brain is allowed to stay on task, improvements in performance are demonstrated. When we are asking employees to do something differently, we are imposing switch cost on them. Even if we expect improved performance in the long run, we must prepare for reduced performance while the employee is making the switch.

What do you think?

What are some of your best change management techniques?

Reviewed through the lens of neuroscience, do these techniques still hold up, or do you need to think about change management differently now?

Please join our community by discussing these questions in the comment section below.

Additional resources

This little video from Dr. Joe Despenza (uploaded on August 19, 2009) shows the neural network in the act of transformation: forming new connections and dissolving, or “pruning,” old, no longer useful ones. Just watching it was inspirational to me.

Dr. Norman Doidge: The Brain that Changes Itself. October 26, 2010

Transform your Mind, Change your Brain. Google Tech Talks, September 23, 2009. Richard J. Davidson