Leading change researchers say it's time workplaces "embraced the mess" caused by COVID-19
17 March 2021
A group of global change experts are sending a disruptive message out to Australian businesses — calling for approaches that 'embrace uncertainty and the mess' of change over trying to "command and control" when it comes to workplace challenges.
The Change Lab are the leading industry experts in helping organisations worldwide (including clients such as Deloitte's, IBM, LendLease, Treasury Wine Estate, the Dubai Government, Melbourne University and Xero) to thrive through change using the latest research in neuroscience, positive psychology and systems design.
Co-Founder of The Change Lab, Michelle Etheve, says a 'command and control' or 'traditional management' approach to change in the workplace in the pandemic-impacted landscape won't work to create the kind of ongoing positive change needed for organisations to operate effectively in the current market context.
"The Change Lab's current campaign talks about helping workplaces and their people embrace the uncertainty and 'mess' of change so they can learn to more confidently navigate it. Many of us are getting stuck on an idea that change - including the current global pandemic - will come with a clear start, middle, and end. What we're seeing now with the new year, as uncertainty and change persist, and with no clear 'end' in sight, is people experiencing a sense of learned helplessness - creating a greater strain on people's mental health and organisational wellbeing," Ms Etheve says.
Ms Etheve says relief for organisations trying to manage change can be found via new research-backed programs and tools that can help leaders and staff 'shift their change paradigm' and emerge from challenges not just surviving — but thriving.
"Leaders and their people need the opportunity to challenge the outdated and problematic beliefs about change that are keeping them stuck and increasing their sense of overwhelm. They deserve better than to be crushed under the weight of uncertainty because of the way they were previously taught they could 'manage' change, when with a shift in perspective, new change skills, and psychologically safe spaces to experiment they could very well be growing and thriving in the face of that uncertainty."
"Now, more than ever, is the time to upskill and support our people to develop new ways of navigating change to build the kind of change agility and resilience that will see organisations moving from 'surviving' rapid and chaotic change to 'thriving' in it."
For organisations and individuals who are interested in getting the tools they need to better negotiate change in the workplace, The Change Lab has opened its doors to the Certificate in Creating positive Change: https://www.michellemcquaid.com/the-change-lab/positive-change-certificate/
The Change Lab is co-founded by international change and wellbeing thought leader Dr. Michelle McQuaid and expert change researcher and facilitator Michelle Etheve.
