People Hate Change

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Our fear of change goes far back into primal priorities for self-preservation. After all, all changes hold innate risks for harm—or, at the very least, for situations worse than the current. We know the present. How can we know that something different will prove better?

To make the effort, we need a strong impetus for change.

Yet change happens to us at certain times in life—choice aside. The comforts of childhood slide away. Parents divorce. New work supervisors come along.

How do you cope? How do you help others cope?

• Understand and explain the reasons. Communication makes a huge difference to absolutely everything in life—and perhaps most especially when it comes to the logic and expectations around change.

• Paint a picture of a better future—the world awaiting on the other side of the change—while making it clear that getting to the great space will take time and effort.

• Piecemeal the change into smaller, clearly defined stages. People will always find evolution easier than revolution.

• Provide or find safe spaces to vent. Yet create parameters for venting. No one should accept public meltdowns that negatively affect others.

• Expect and forgive slips. No person or process has ever proved perfect.

Do you have any recommendations, based on your experience with change?

What did I miss?