As community members navigate their individual change journeys, CIT joins several other groups in sharing a news series called Focus on Change. Each article will include tips, resources, and prompts to encourage conversations and provide support through times of uncertainty.

This week’s feature—Why is Change So Hard?—breaks down some of that uncertainty by exploring why a suggested shift in tools or processes feels uncomfortable. Understanding why it’s hard is the first step toward making it easier to accept and embrace a change.

Watch the four-minute animated Skillsoft video that decodes common feelings about organizational change. In the video, you will accompany an anonymous employee through typical reactions to change, like their perception of personal threat, their resistance to changing the way they work, and losing the comfort and proficiency felt under the pre-change status quo. 

Organizational change may be inevitable or necessary, but leaders must also address employee concerns and help show their team members the anticipated benefits of the successful change including career growth, job security, and new opportunities as previous routine tasks are streamlined.

Start the Change Conversation

Meeting facilitators and team leaders alike can use questions like these to guide conversations within their spheres of influence:

• What changes are happening for us right now? How do they relate to what we learned in the video?
• Have you ever experienced resistance to change personally? What made it so hard?
• How do habits or comfort zones influence our ability to adapt?
• What can we do as a team to support one another during transitions?

An increasing number of community members have committed to embracing change and building a change resilient culture in the university, and that change is both noticed and appreciated by leaders across Cornell.

For more change journey tips, see these Cornell resources:

• Organizational Change Management website
• Prosci Organizational Change Management Training
• Previous Focus on Change feature: “Uncertain about What’s Next? That’s Part of the Process.”