When change is a constant factor in our lives and businesses it can feel exhausting.

Work Smart Not Hard Tip No. 37 in a series written for Indie Cambs.

(With thanks to Jo Twiselton of Twist Consultants for the inspiration for this post)

Five years ago the world was in a different kind of mess to the one we’re in now.
Although we’re not physically separated, many people are experiencing an even more extreme feeling of isolation. We don’t know who we can trust, which groups are safe, who we can talk to or what we can do to try and make things better.

The level of misinformation, the inability to get a straight answer and the increased complexity of everything is going through the roof.

Some people are dealing with this by just keeping their heads down, not tuning in to the news and hoping it will go away and things will return to normal.

Many of us hoped that would be the case after Covid but it proved to be otherwise. There is no longer any “normal” to go back to so we have to find ways of coping with change.

We’re used to having relatively long periods of stability interspersed with short periods of change, and we could reflect on what we did to cope and what we might do differently if faced with a similar situation in the future. Now we’re faced with moving from one period of change to another without any chance to reflect.

The signs of this having an impact on your business usually include:

• Greater variability in focus and productivity
• Resistance to new ideas, even when the current ways of doing things clearly aren’t working
• People looking for impossible levels of certainty before they make decisions or move forward.

One of the ways of dealing with this is to understand how you and the people around you respond to change. Some people find it exciting, invigorating, and a chance to try something new, while others are very resistant, fearful and stubborn about maintaining the status quo.

If this is showing up in your business, one of the most powerful things you can do is to talk about it, not to persuade, but to understand where others are coming from and how they feel and for everyone involved to help each other through it.

It’s helpful to think about how you’ve coped with change in the past and wherever possible to reflect on how you might do things differently now, or celebrate what you did right and use that energy for what’s happening now.

In the meantime, if you or someone you know is doing something, anything, to help people feel less alone and more empowered, let me know. And if there is anything you need from me, you know where I am!