How can neuroscience help you overcome change resistance?

Resistance is closely related to neuroscience. The limbic system (our brain) helps the body respond to intense emotions of fear and anger by activating the fight or flight response. Status quo is a safe zone and change pushes us to move to an uncertain or unknown zone which our brain picks as a danger zone. Fight or flight response activated in shape of resistance. As a change leader, you role is to clarify the change so effectively that people don't see it as a threat to their job, status, perks or control.

Resistance is the very first step to change. It is an automatic response to the fear of uncertainty, the unknown, out of our comfort zone - our brains are designed to go to fight or flight mode when we venture into the unknown. When we understand that resistance is a normal step, then we can just let it go, "tell" our brain to relax, take a few deep breaths, and keep moving forward. It is as simple and as difficult as that. Being aware of this natural mechanism allows us to "see" it when it happens, makes it easy to push aside our negative thoughts/resistance to the upcoming change, and become excited at the opportunity in front of us. The nervous system can then relax.

A common mistake is to interpret an initial "no" as resistance. An direct or indirect "no" may simply mean that the person doesn't yet have a good understanding of the change, its purpose, how it will be achieved, or how it may impact them. (See @Barbara Trautlein's work for more) When you notice resistance, try suspending judgement and get curious! Ask: what are they seeing or experiencing? What information do they have that could make the change or the implementation better? Exploring the reasons behind change resistance can lead to meaningful conversation, deeper insights, and alternate perspectives, which ultimately benefit a change, increase trust and safety, and enhance relationships making future changes easier to implement.

There are various contributing factors where one might avoid, rather than approach change. - A threat response, in any of our key social domains - Deeply engrained habits, and our brains nature to prefer the status quo - Our brains predictions, based on past experiences and subsequent emotional respond - A negative ROI, based on perceived effort over reward (including lack of relevance or meaning) - Cognitive dissonance, due to lack of coherence with the change purpose, habits and the system - Lack of positive progress, leading to temporal gaps and procrastination. Though if we consider our brains behaviour inhibition (avoid) and approach systems, I would say rather than the term "resistance", it's simply avoidance of change.

Once we understand the origin of resistance then it is easier for a change leader to plan the change in such a way that it brings positive energy, growth and reward. Change shouldn't be perceived by people as a threat.

Change resistance, per neuroscience goes far deeper. Re: the amygdala and fight/flight, you're talking about a threat response. which can contribute towards people avoiding, rather than approaching change. Though it's not the be all, end all. - The brain is energy conserving, with deeply engrained habits, of which it prefers the faster processing of. And the brains wants to keep us safe, so of course status quo is the preference - We've a social brain. If we feel a threat to any of our 5 key social domains, (status, autonomy, relatedness, certainly, fairness), we're likely to avoid change So, it is more so avoidance, than resistance. And we can design for better change experiences to foster more approach, than avoid stances to change.

I generally practice 3 minutes of mindfulness at the beginning of the change management training workshops. It helps a lot in the reduction of distractions and improves the openness to change.

As a change leader, bring simplicity, clarity, openness and honesty. This will reduce the resistance and bring effectiveness. On the other hand, don't assume resistance is always bad. In many cases, based on my experience, resistance helps change team in effectively convey the message across and correct errors which were overlooked during change planning.

When thinking about how to reduce the impact of amygdala activation, you need to think about the role of the prefrontal cortex - your "thinking" centre. If you can provide enough education to support the change, it reduces the amygdala response. Engage the rational senses. (Which is easier said than done.)

You can self regulate by: - Spotting the signs (you'll spot them by interception first, that is your bodily sensations, beating heart, faster breath) - Taking a breath (a physiological sigh is known to calm your nervous system, where deep breathing without structure may arouse it further) - Label how you feel, the more granular, the better. It dampens the response and helps with emotional intel - Question your brains prediction. Of which are based on things like past experiences (your conscious thought has more context) - Reframe the situation in a way that better suits your goals.

Sudden, imposed, or unwanted changes can trigger a survival response (activated by your amygdala). When this happens, it compromises or entirely shuts down your executive functioning...just when you need them to manage the change! When this happens, it can feel like you've lost control but knowing your unique Change Fingerprint can help you to quickly move from amygdala hijack back to accessing your ability to problem solve, manage emotions, be creative, and make decisions so you can navigate that change quickly, comfortably, and with less stress. The Change Fingerprint Framework provides language, tools, and a mindset to empower people, give them agency to be squarely in control of how they process and adapt to change.

Reduce your threat state. Your body goes in to "survival" mode when you're in one, so don't expect your executive functions, to be functioning at their best. This is the exact reason why I encourage designing for brain-friendly change. Threat is a distraction in our already overloaded attention economy.

Knowing your unique Change Fingerprint can help to quickly shift from amygdala hijack back to engaging the prefrontal cortex.

In this context, the profound concept of “Neuroplasticity” stands out, confirming our capacity to navigate change by actively forging new neural pathways. Neuroscientists emphasize the pivotal roles of education and concentration, recognizing them as influential agents in creating fresh neural connections. Leveraging neuroplasticity in change management goes beyond adaptation; it involves a strategic approach to making information accessible. Integration into essential tasks, deliberate discussions, and focused attention become the artisan tools for crafting novel neural relationships between cells.

Before we go in to this, we need to think of - - Changing or creating of new habits (the habit loop, and designing new cues and testing rewards). - The requirement for unlearning. - And that you can use all the rewards and incentives you like, though unless there is urgency, repetition and association, you will have less a chance of information (new or changed), going from your short-term scratch pad, to long-term memory. James Clear and Atomic Habits is a great place to start.

In the context of change management, it's also important to understand the neuroscience of learning. Knowledge retention is a big obstacle to sustaining changes. Consider how information passes from short-term to long-term memory and the importance of creating space to process information. Another consideration is that it's easier for us to remember something that is in some way correlated to what we already know. You can think of it like adding a chapter to a book we've already read versus reading a brand new book. Can you build your learning solutions in a way that scaffolds knowledge building and connects to information that your learners already possess? That will help accelerate learning and knowledge retention.