Basic Change Instincts
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The document discusses nine basic human instincts that relate to how people respond to change: loss aversion, emotion before reason, first impressions, gossip, confidence before realism, empathy and mind reading, contest and display, community, and hierarchy and status. It explains that people are more motivated to avoid loss than gain opportunity, and change will be resisted if it involves loss. It also notes that impressions and emotions shape initial responses to change before logical reasoning. The document provides tips for change leaders to be aware of these instincts to better understand and address resistance to change.
Basic Change Instincts
- 2. People are open to change as long as it is approached in the right way. Understanding instincts is a useful starting point. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page A summary extract from the article by Andrew O’Keeffe in AFR Boss Magazine. Andrew is a principal of Hardwired Humans and author of The Boss. His description of the nine instincts is adapted from Nigel Nicholson, author of Managing the Human Animal. Additional material by David Williams, Director, Pronoia Group.
- 3. The Nine Basic Instincts Loss Aversion Emotion Before Reason First Impressions To Classify Gossip Confidence Before Realism Empathy And Mind Reading Contest And Display Community Hierarchy And Status © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 4. Change It’s not true that humans are change adverse. If that were the case we would not exist. What is true is that human instinct is to change, for change is required to merely maintain the status quo. However, for change to be accepted it has to have one criterion: that the change does not involve loss! This is one of nine instincts that we have. Leaders and change practitioners should be aware of the nine instincts to avoid the predictable derailers of change in their personal and business life as well as for their organisations © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 5. Loss Aversion © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page Humans are significantly more motivated by the avoidance of loss than the opportunity to gain. Gain detection = support. Loss detection = resistance. Uncertainty also = resistance. As an example, an office relocation will gain most support from those who will live closer to the new location. If it takes me longer to get to work and/or extra cost, I am more than likely to resist the change. It’s not the change: it’s a question of loss or gain.
- 6. Emotion Before Reason The filtering for loss is performed instantly, emotionally and often subconsciously. Information is filtered firstly on how you feel, and then on logic. This is because the brain is wired to perform that way. Messages are received first by the amygdala (the emotional brain), before being received by the neocortex (for rational processing). This is useful to know if you need to influence peoples response to change. Knowing this, the challenge is to influence how people feel when they first hear of the change. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 7. First Impressions To Classify Influencing first impressions is critical to influencing human opinion. We make instant judgments about people and situations as a way to classify our experiences. For example, good or bad, harmful not harmful and loss or gain. Once that experience is classified it may take years, if ever, for someone to alter that perspective. Great idea’s as an example, that never launch because of the publics negative classification. They only become successful when the public have a different perspective, a new classification. The Earth is not flat, man can fly and so on and so forth. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 8. Gossip Leaving the first impression to chance, may be leaving communication to the grapevine. People are hardwired to gossip. It helps us find out information and maintain social alliances. How we communicate is also important. At a cocktail party we gather in a group of four. As a fifth member joins, the group becomes too big, the dynamic changes and the group quickly splits into groups of three and two. This pattern can be used to communicate change. If one company is acquiring another a communication session can be concluded with morning tea. Predicting the behaviour that people will gather in small groups to discuss, the company can have enough representatives to circulate and reach each person to answer questions and mitigate resistance. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 9. Confidence Before Realism Humans are also hardwired to deny reality, that is to emphasise what is possible and to underestimate what is practical. This is the instinct that causes us to plan optimistically and at the same time disregard implementation. The results can be that organisations expand too quickly lacking structure or projects are launched lacking strategies to foster change and mitigate resistance. Thus mistakes are repeated from generation to generation. It means organisations underestimate the required effort, resources, time and the capability of people to manage the change. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 10. Empathy And Mind Reading We are mind readers. Or at least we think we are. Humans can detect what others are feeling and maybe thinking. It can be mental, but most often through body language and simply the expression on peoples faces. This means that people can also reasonably assess your intentions, by how you say what you say and your body language. If you truly don’t care about staff, or certain people…others will eventually find out. If your people sense that you are faking concern…then you will lose their trust. At this point any successful change will become harder for the organisation. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 11. Contest And Display We spend time, money and energy making ourselves look good. During times of change, for example needing to improve organisational performance, we may fall into the trap of wanting to look good. A strategy or restructure may be created that is designed to maintain your looking good, because you have convinced yourself that is what is needed. The challenge is to stay grounded on the fundamentals by taking a step back, focusing on the big picture and the long term. This may mean more measured, complex thought and action. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 12. Community Humans are social animals, despite what you read in the paper. We connect strongly to our family group of around 7 people, in our village of up to 150 people. We can see that in large organisations people will have much stronger bonds with their small team and department than they will with the wider organisation. Knowing this we can see the importance of stakeholder engagement during times of change and the need to cascade the right messages to the right people at the right time. It is important to align communication vertically down through the organisation by leveraging hierarchy and horizontally through departments such as HR, Training and IT. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 13. Hierarchy And Status As groups we function through hierarchy. When hierarchy and power are unclear the group becomes dysfunctional. When executives complain about their circumstances, but fly around the World in private jets, their behaviour could be counter-productive. When we have power we are more likely to disregard other peoples views and feelings, rather focusing on how we gain advantage for ourselves. Leaders who have this negative instinct could well attract that instinct in their people and organisations. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 14. Hardwired? Throughout this presentation our instincts have been referred to as hardwired in the brain. This gives the impression that we are at the mercy of our unchangeable instincts. In fact growing research has proved that our brains are plastic and neuroplasticity shows how our brains have the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Thus, what we think at first may be instinct, but we do not have to make it a habit! Changing our habits to improve ourselves, will over time change our instincts. We are wired…but not hardwired. © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page
- 15. Action Workshop What change do you have to make just to achieve the status quo? What are you and your team afraid to lose? In the past how have you delivered the first messages of change? How can you maximise first impressions to change? How can you mitigate negative gossip? How can you balance vision with reality to maximise change? Are you building trust…how? How can you balance image with reality? How can you leverage the communities within the organisation? Are you leading by example? What can you do now to improve your change strategy? © 2000 Pronoia Group Pty Ltd Page