From FEAR to DARE How to improve your change-fitness

From FEAR to DARE How to improve yur change-fitnessFrom FEAR to DARE How to improve your change-fitnessResistance is a mental state, not an attribute.People are not born mora open (or not) to change. Thats a wrong assumption most of us make - we think others resist change on purpose. Mental states are fluid. We can all train our minds to overcome resistance.Most of us are change-averse. We are wired to resist uncertainty - our brains dont tolerate what they cant control or anticipate. Thats why we try to fit the unknowns into existing mental structures. We resist anything that we cant put in any of those predefined boxes.Becoming more open-minded is a counterintuitive mental exercise - to increase your change-fitness, you have to train your mind first. You must shift from FEAR to DARE.New direction, new mindsetWhat we binnensee changes what we know. What we know changes what we see. - Jean PiagetYou cant expect someone to run a marathon without any previous training. Those who ar e out of shape, not only can get harmed - they will resist the idea from the get-go.However, thats how many organization approach change. They expect people to embrace new technologies, initiatives or strategic directions with excitement - but they forget to prepare them to be more open-minded.Peoples relationship with change is directly linked to life experiences, beliefs, emotions, and what they went through in previous transformations. All their baggage comes to play when abspracheing with new initiatives.Swiss Psychologist Jean Piaget coined the term Schema to describe both the mental and physical actions required in understanding and knowing. We use them to interpret and understand the world - schemas are the building blocks of knowledge.When we face new information, we have to either fit it in our existing mentality or to adjust our schema to fit the new information. We can either assimilate or accommodate to whats unfamiliar.Assimilation is easy - the new information fits within existing experiences and preconceived ideas. But, when theres no place for it, it challenges our beliefs, emotions, and confidence.Accommodation is hard - it requires to develop a cognitive ability. We have to put judgment aside and be willing to analyze the new information as potentially good. Once we recognize the benefit of a new initiative, it requires challenging our existing ideas - accommodation requires training our minds.Thats why its essential for any team to understand how they deal with change. Assessing what drives resistance (FEAR) is the first step toward training everyones mind, not only to be more open but to thrive in change (DARE).Note the FEAR to DARE framework welches adapted from the one Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (CBT) uses for psychotherapy ours has been repurposed for team and organizational transformation.F is for Fighting. Most of us are at war with reality. We fight what we cant control or dont understand. Our anxiety, emotions, and thoug hts prevent us from fully understanding ourselves, others, and the context. Low self-awareness causes blindspots, thus bad clouds our judgment to make decisions.E is for Excuses. When things dont go as expected, we tend to blame others. Excuses are distractions - we put the focus somewhere else instead of being accountable for our acts. Name your favorite excuse. We play the blame game instead of acting.A is for Avoidance. Change challenges us - we must leave our comfort zone to try new things. Our perfectionist mind tends to focus on whats missing instead of what we have. We are busy, others teams have more budget, our competitor is faster than we are, you name it. Constraints become a limitation - we avoid the real challenge.R is for Repetition. Avoidance of uncertainty keeps us in our comfort zone - we keep doing the same things in the same way we always did. We end living on autopilot.So, how can you break this cycle?Work on you. Be honest. Be authentic. Be brave. Dare to ch ange.D is for Discovery. We must pause and reflect to increase our self-awareness. We put the time and effort to discover who we really are and become compassionate enough to accept our entire self (flaws included). We dont let our thoughts and emotionscloud our judgment - we discover reality as is.Self-aware teams make better decisions, interact better with each other, and manage conflicts more effectively.Discovery is an ongoing process - self-awareness turns our blindspots into bright spots.A is for Autonomy. We take ownership of our actions. Rather than blaming others, we take full accountability. Autonomy is our desire for choices - we want to manage our destiny, rather than leaving it in someone elses hands.Our brains are wired to self-direct. We need to feel autonomy over our tasks (what we do), our time (when we do it), the team (who we do it with), and the technique (how we do it).Autonomy lets action, not excuses, drive us.R is for Reframing. Limits, just like fear, are an illusion. We are wired to believe that having more (time, resources, budget, etc.) is what matters. Reframing is how we turn limitations into our best friend - they force us to be more focused, creative, and effective.Reframing turns constraints into a superpower.E is for Experimentation. Letting go of what we go is the first step to try new things. To learn something new, you must unlearn everything you think you know. It requires to embrace vulnerability - get used to making mistakes and recover from failing often. Put your perfectionism aside. Be okay to jump into the unknown.Experimentation requires to embrace doing over overthinking.Dare to changePlay is the work of childhood. - Jean PiagetTo move from FEAR to DARE a framework is not enough - it requires training, coaching, tools, and regular practice. But, above all, you must provide a safe space for dialogue and feedback. Here are some tips to get you started.1. Develop Self and Team AwarenessOur mindsets and emotions can make things look more complicated or challenging than they are. Self-awareness helps us understand our feelings and thoughts - we observe events instead of reacting to them. By looking at our thoughts rather than through them, we can see reality as is, not a distorted version.Self-awareness requires discipline to understand and train our minds.2. Ignite actionStarting is always harder than continuing a task (especially one we dont like). As the Heath brothers wrote on Switch, One way to motivate action is to make people feel as though theyve already closer to the finish line that they might have thought.A study on car wash promotion shows that when customers are given a 10-punch card with two stamps on it, they are more prone to complete it than an 8-punch card with no stamps.Dont start from scratch - make people feel theyve already made progress.3. Aim for quick-winsGaining momentum is crucial to keep the action moving. As finance guru, Dave Ramsey explains, When training sa lespeople, I try to get them a sale or two quickly because that fires them up. And getting fired up is super important.Progress fuels more progress - quick wins accelerate change.4. Get comfortable failingWhats your mistake policy? - I like to ask my clients. This kickstarts a healthy conversation on how organization deal (or not) with errors. To learn, you must fail first.Encourage a culture of risk-taking - celebrate mistakes as lessons.5. Acknowledge progressChange creates a gap between where the organization is and where it must be. By focusing too much on the destination, many leaders fail to acknowledge the ground gained.Remember to acknowledge and celebrate progress - people get excited when they feel they are moving forward.Upgrade your teams adaptabilityDownload my ebook Stretch Your Team how to thrive in a changing world get your free copy.Receive my weekly Insights for Changemakers Sign up nowThisarticlefirst appeared on Medium.