Coping with Coping with ChangeChange

A Practical Approach to a Common A Practical Approach to a Common Organizational ChallengeOrganizational Challenge

A Presentation for the 2009A Presentation for the 2009Lake Local Schools ConvocationLake Local Schools Convocation

Kendall L. Stewart, MD, MBA, DFAPAKendall L. Stewart, MD, MBA, DFAPAAugust 24, 2009August 24, 2009

1Thank you for your kind invitation and your commitment to educational excellence.2I hope to offer practical advice you can put to work in your personal and professional lives today.3Please let me know whether I succeeded on your evaluation forms.

Why is this important?

• Change happens.• We don’t always embrace it.• In fact, we often resist it

with all our might.• Organizational change is a

source of significant stress at work.

• Some of us deal with change better than others.

• This presentation will help you cope.

• You can start using these strategies today.

• I understand that each of you is making a personal commitment to your organizational vision this year. (This may not be the principal change on you minds.)

• After mastering the information in this presentation, you will be able to– Give three reasons why we

tend to resist change,– Identify three ways we

resist change, and– Detail three practical

strategies for coping with change more effectively.

• Change is not going away.• Coping with it more

effectively can make a world of difference in your life.1,2,3

1We often refuse to change even when it’s clear what we are doing is not working.2I once counseled a husband about what to get his wife for their anniversary.3A farmer in Georgia was not pleased with his wife.

Why do we resist change?

• Change is often uncomfortable.• We may not see what’s in it for us. (WII-

FM)• It may seem silly and pointless.1,2

• We may not have been consulted beforehand.

• A compelling case for change may not have been made.

• We know how often proposed changes fizzle and poop out.

• The change may require extra effort on our part.

• We may view the change as unfair.• We may view the proposed change as a

very bad thing.• It just seems to be part of human nature.

1Do you know the difference in the Golden and Platinum Rules?2I learned a hard change lesson about administrative rounding.

How do we resist change?

• We experience strong feelings.1,2

• We seek out others who share our feelings.

• We talk behind others’ back.• We spin and exaggerate.• We attack those who feel differently.• We pout and withdraw.• We indulge in passive, aggressive

posturing.• We create dissention and set

organizational back fires.• Unfailingly civil and gracious, we

challenge the case for change with dispassionate clarifying questions.

• Yeah, right.1When SOMC administrators announced a change I didn’t like, I became upset.2Then I calmed myself and figured out a better way to cope.

What practical strategies will help us cope more effectively with change?

• Recognize your emotional arousal.

• Calm yourself.• Become a reporter; ask

clarifying questions.• Clarify whether you are

being asked permission, being consulted or being informed.

• Figure out exactly how the change will affect you.

• If the final decision is still pending, make the case for and against the change.1

• Take a thoughtful position.

• Suggest other options• Suggest a pilot study.• Ask for metrics that

will prove the change produced the desired results.

• Focus on results.• Limit pointless

rumination.• Engage in healthy

distractions.• Stop trying to reason

with unreasonable people.

• Reframe the change as a personal opportunity to grow.

1I made a vigorous case against labeling average employees.

What have we learned?

• Change happens.• It does not always happen easily.• Most of us would admit that

change is one of our principal challenges in the work environment.

• And most of us would admit that we could cope with change better.

• We now know what to do.• But knowing what to do is rarely

the problem.• Doing it is.1

1Let’s use losing weight and keeping it off as an example.

What results have my changed behaviors produced?

Began SparkPeople™

Where can you learn more?1

• Examine a British perspective by reviewing Judith Bell’s, Teachers Talk About Teaching: Coping With Change in Turbulent Times, Open University Press, 1995.

• Read Susan Jones’, Coping With Change at Work, Thorsons Business, 1995.

• Consider the grief reactions that workplace changes trigger by reading J. Shep Jeffreys’, Coping With Workplace Grief, Revised Edition: Dealing With Loss, Trauma and Change, Crisp Learning, 2005.

• Review some additional practical tips from Sharon L. Mosenkis at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FWE/is_10_6/ai_92839910/

1Please visit www.KendallLStewartMD.com to download related white papers and presentations.

How can you contact me?1

Kendall L. Stewart, M.D.Kendall L. Stewart, M.D.VPMA and Chief Medical OfficerVPMA and Chief Medical OfficerSouthern Ohio Medical CenterSouthern Ohio Medical Center

President & CEOPresident & CEOThe SOMC Medical Care Foundation, Inc.The SOMC Medical Care Foundation, Inc.

1805 27th Street1805 27th StreetWaller BuildingWaller Building

Suite B01Suite B01Portsmouth, Ohio 45662Portsmouth, Ohio 45662

740.356.8153740.356.8153

StewartK@somc.org StewartK@somc.org KendallLStewartMD@yahoo.comKendallLStewartMD@yahoo.com

www.somc.orgwww.somc.orgwww.KendallLStewartMD.comwww.KendallLStewartMD.com

1Speaking and consultation fees benefit the SOMC Endowment Fund.

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