Every organisation undergoes change: sometimes it is planned, other times it is as reaction to events. For the people working in that organisation, change can be experienced as ‘imposed’ or ‘chosen’.

As part of the launch of the second year of the Centre for Scholarship and Innovation in Management Education (SIME) at Lancaster University, we spent some time exploring why change can have such a profound effect on us, and how we can respond.

A short simple activity allowed participants to explore their own reactions to change, (and successive change). We often learn to associate imposed change with loss, but we also develop our resilience and our creativity. How to cope with a cut in department budget, the introduction of new technology or teaching practices, merging of faculties – whatever it is, we may greet the change with a range of emotions. Emotions that need to be addressed before engaging with the actions required by the change can take place. The question is, how do we engage ourselves and others with change so that we give our commitment rather than our compliance?

Participants were invited to think of changes that they had chosen for themselves; setting stretching goals, embracing new challenges or setting out on a new path of learning and development. These changes still involve potential discomfort and risk and achieving the desired outcome may sometimes be in doubt, but somehow they feel different to change that is imposed upon us.

Key elements of responding to change resourcefully are:

• Controlling the controllables.
• Feeling that you are part of the process, you are involved and your opinion matters and you have some influence on what happens.
• Choosing how to ‘show up’ – your attitude and your perspective. For instance, do you see the change as a challenge or a threat?
• Recognising what support we want or can give to others.

We touched briefly on Prochaska and DiClemente’s Transtheoretical Model (TTM), which was introduced as a way of explaining why change programmes often fail, the Change Agent moving too quickly to implementation, without pacing those affected by the change through the earlier stages, which are essentially about coming to terms with the change and acknowledging that some action has to be taken.

It is always useful to reflect on our responses to change. We may not be able to prevent it happening, but we can influence how we respond and in doing so, act as a role model for others.

Miles Peacock, Director at Enthios Training & Development Ltd

Entrepreneur in Residence, Lancaster University Management School

Member of the Centre for Scholarship and Innovation in Management Education

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