Change

Work the Same as Always, Only Harder Didn’t Work for Me

By Brandon W. Jones on March 19, 2014 0

When change happens, many people take the approach that rather than adapt to the new way of doing things, they will just work the same as always, only harder. This approach may work for a short time, but it is not a feasible long-term solution to adjusting to change. If you continue to work the same as always, only harder rather than adapt to change, you will only cause burnout, pain, frustration, and/or anger for yourself and those around you.

Work the same as always, only harder didn’t work for me

Some time back, I went through a change where I got a new boss. My new boss and I didn’t always see eye to eye on things. He wanted to change the way everything was done before he understood why it was done that way. I, on the other hand, tried to do everything I knew how to do, but at a faster pace than I had done it in the past. I worked the same as always, only harder.

It didn’t take long for me to be very worn out. This approach didn’t help me to see more eye to eye with my new boss and it didn’t lead to my success. It just made me frustrated, annoyed, and angry at times because things didn’t go my way. [Read more…] about Work the Same as Always, Only Harder Didn’t Work for Me

A Stable and Certain Environment When Going Through Change?

By Brandon W. Jones on March 17, 2014 0

Have you ever gone through an experience where change was happening around you and there was nothing you could do about it? Change may have happened so quickly that you couldn’t maintain a stable and certain environment from day to day. Experiences like these can be very difficult and try our patience until we learn to handle them with ease.

People’s Expectation

There are people that deal with change in stride and there are those that fight change as much as they can. There is a wide range of people that fall somewhere in between. When speaking of people and their expectations, I am referring to those who fight change on one level or another just for the sake of fighting it.

People like stability, consistency, and dependability in life. As a result, they expect a stable and certain environment in most if not all aspects of life. When change happens, they think the role of the leader is to maintain a perfectly stable and certain environment. When that doesn’t happen, they get upset, frustrated, and even angry at leadership. [Read more…] about A Stable and Certain Environment When Going Through Change?

Management’s Job Is To Make Life Easy

By Brandon W. Jones on March 3, 2014 0

When change comes up, some people think management is supposed to make life easy. They think that, “if management truly cares about me, they will make my workload easy and they will stop making me change.” They also have the attitude that if management doesn’t make life easy, they aren’t good management AND they don’t really care about their employees.

People that have this belief often get really upset when change happens. They feel that management has it out for them because they are bad management. This leads to feelings of anger, discontent, and frustration. As a result, they begin sharing their sentiments with others. They can become a poison to a group or company as they spread these same feelings to others.

When you are around people that have those feelings, it is important understand what is going on in their minds. There are two misunderstandings going through the mind of the person making the statement. Those misunderstandings relate to the following two questions:

What does it mean for management to truly care?

Management that truly cares wants you to be your very best. They want you to become a great person. Great management knows that for you to become a great person you need to go through trials, adversity, and change. [Read more…] about Management’s Job Is To Make Life Easy

Fight The Wrong Battles

By Brandon W. Jones on February 24, 2014 0

When change comes around, there are many people that do all they can to fight it. They decide that all change is bad and if they make the next change, their life will be more difficult. These people fight change so much that they get worn down, their stress level increases, and life becomes much more difficult. Additionally, people get tired of being around the change fighter because they know that any change they think of will be hard to implement.

When you fight the wrong battles you will experience fatigue and you could run into the following three challenges:

Loss of Emotional Energy

Everything you do either adds to your emotional reservoir or takes away from it. When you fight a winning battle, your confidence grows and you begin to feel energized. On the other hand, when you fight the wrong battles, you lose emotional energy. If you are consistently fighting the wrong battles, you will drain your reservoir more than you refill it. With time it will get depleted. [Read more…] about Fight The Wrong Battles

Be Evasive When Change Comes

By Brandon W. Jones on February 5, 2014 0

Have you ever wanted to hide under a rock when you knew a change was coming? Or have you ever avoided people that were driving change because you didn’t want the change to happen? Or, have you ever participated in a conversation where you intentionally didn’t bring up a subject because you knew it would lead to talk of change? If you have ever done any of these things, you have tried to be evasive to change. If you try to be evasive when change comes you are prolonging the inevitable.

Who tries to be evasive to change?

Almost everyone has been or will try to be evasive to change. Whether you are a leader, a follower, or someone in between, you have probably tried to be evasive to change even if you try to do all you can to accept change and embrace it.

Change happens whether you like it or not. It is very easy, however, to be evasive to change. When you are evasive to change, you probably think that it will prolong the change. In actuality, however, it just makes the change more difficult. When you are evasive you are in denial over the change. [Read more…] about Be Evasive When Change Comes

Become The Victim Of Change

By Brandon W. Jones on January 31, 2014 0

It is not uncommon when change is being implemented for people to “become the victim of change.” When something new is implemented or another form of change happens, people will say that they are the victims of change. They will say that the change was forced upon them and they had no control over it.

What is the victim of change mentality?

The victim of change mentality happens when people give control of their life over to others. When people take on the “victim of change” mentality, they fight or have a defeatist attitude towards change. They feel like whatever happens is out of their control. As the victim, they claim that they have no control over their life or what happens to them.

You may hear people say things like, “What does it matter, I have no control over it anyway.” They may say, “Management, leadership, government, etc. just forces it upon us and they don’t even care what we think” Another common statement is, “Why do you want my opinion when you won’t listen to it or do anything about it anyway?” Each of these statements can be taken as an indication that the person believes he/she is the victim of change.

Why is this mentality bad?

When I think about the victim of change mentality, I also think about empowerment. When you are empowered, you believe that you can do anything you set your mind to. When you become the victim of change, however, your mindset changes to one of dependency on others. [Read more…] about Become The Victim Of Change