Overcoming Our Natural Resistance to Change
We all have a natural resistance to change. Our brains become wired in certain ways over time, developing ingrained thought patterns, biases, and even ego attachments that make us resistant to adopting new ways of thinking. This "change barrier" makes innovation and growth difficult, even when we rationally know that change would benefit us.
A useful analogy comes from neuroscience's concept of the blood-brain barrier. This barrier protects the brain by preventing foreign substances in the body from entering it freely. However, sometimes we need to purposefully break through this barrier, such as when delivering medicine to treat brain conditions like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. We have to develop strategies to temporarily open the barrier in a controlled way.
Our psychological resistance to change functions much like this physical blood-brain barrier. Overcoming it requires intentionally creating conditions to "open" our minds. One especially effective approach, though difficult, is struggle. When we struggle, we loosen the grip of the familiar and challenge our ego. We open up to explore new ideas out of necessity.
As organizational leaders and innovators, if we want to help people reach their potential, we must guide them to break through change barriers. Constructive struggle and challenge in a psychologically safe environment allows people to release old ways of thinking and try on new ideas. Through struggle, we can open ourselves up to insights and mentorship that would not have been possible otherwise. Leading people through productive struggle accelerates their learning, empowerment, and performance.
The change barrier is real, but surmountable. Just as scientists have learned to penetrate the blood-brain barrier for therapeutic purposes, we can use strategies like managed struggle to introduce growth-enhancing changes to the mind. The end result is the unleashing of our creativity and potential.