Change is a topic that is on everyone’s lips. We are aware that goals are not an immovable concept. Nothing is static, we live turning on the earth’s axis and circling the sun. We speak of resilience, of movement, of the benefits of innovation and although we all confess in favor of progress, we also experience resistance to change. Little is said about this effect. I remember when I was a little girl, I was happy drinking a lemonade with a straw. Suddenly, when I sucked I heard an unpleasant noise, a kind of thunder that increased as I kept pulling the last drops of liquid from the glass. My mom asked me: do you know what that means? I looked at her doubtfully. It means, he told me, that it is over. This is the case with many issues in personal, professional, corporate and entrepreneurial life, we want to pull every last drop, even when there is nothing there. We resist quitting.
There are many examples that we can imagine in this regard: personal and work relationships that no longer give for more, conditions that were positive and are now negative, activities that generated hope and now fill us with frustration, businesses that produced many profits and now it is The only thing they give is headaches, endearing items that are no longer sold. I imagine that no one addresses these issues because they are difficult and painful. However, we should since the faster we understand this process, the more easily we can assimilate the change.
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We all have in mind the condition of someone who clings to a hot nail with anguish and a high degree of despair. We all know of someone who was left out of the game by some innovation process and never realized that trying to recover the past is impossible. People who were fired or who are not taken into account in the work team because they are unable to adapt to change, businesses that are gathering dust, stagnant practices, outdated methods. The danger is that we ourselves can find ourselves in that situation sometime in life or even be immersed in it without realizing it.
I have always believed that those alchemists who give us great formulas to solve all kinds of problems are charlatans. But, the models are schemes that help to identify and analyze, they are tools that are used as a basis to clarify scenarios and lead us to make decisions that shorten periods of uncertainty. In this condition, the resistance to change curve is an instrument that serves as the basis for taking the step to move from place to place and reach a better space.
The resistance to change curve is shaped like a Gaussian bell, but inverted. It’s like the vowel u. Point one is at the beginning of the letter, which is where the descent begins, a turning point is reached and then ascending. The curve can be so wide or short, so steep or smooth depending on two variables: the level of consciousness and the resistance that is presented to the change. It has five stages that are accompanied by specific questions:
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- Like everything in life, as Bill W himself advises, the first thing to do is to realize it. The curve begins with the awareness that we have that there is a modification that we have to accept. The situation is recognized. What’s going on? The answer is an objective analysis of what happens in the here and now.
- At the second point, which is where the descent in the curve is experienced, a resistance is observed that acts as if it were a defense mechanism. Surely, there is fear that seeks to defend the status quo, who refuses to acknowledge that the scene has changed. It is a stage of denial whose main characteristic is to stop the change and seek that everything remains as it was. Why and for what? They are the questions that require attention and active listening to the environment. It is very likely that our environment is shouting the answer to us and we are refusing to listen to it.
- The third point is a crucial moment, it is the lowest point of the curve. That can lead us to imagine that it is the worst moment, however, it is the point at which nothing can get worse and what comes is better. Represents the inflection of the curve. It is when we understand the world from the change. We recognize the situation, that is, we get to know the environment again from the modifications and we get to work to take advantage of new opportunities or we launch ourselves to find new possibilities. At this stage we wonder about the meaning, that is, about the direction and meaning of the change. It is a moment that requires courage, since we will have to answer, is it worth all the effort? Will I be able to face the challenge? It is a stage in which one can fall into a limiting perspective, in which few alternatives arise and there are many obstacles that seem insurmountable, even if they are not. If the limiting part is attended to, a period of stagnation will come; if not, if the bases are found to support the change, the ascent begins.
- Once the inflection point has been saved, with an attentive mind in the windows of opportunity that open, we begin to detect alternatives, we take advantage of the options and we recognize – if they exist – the benefits that change can bring us. If there are no such benefits, we move away from the environment that is not conducive and we will examine other scenarios. We integrate ourselves to the new conditions and transform them into elements in our favor. What do I have to do to move on? How do I join the change? How do I contribute to innovation?
- The last point is when we have assimilated the change and we find ourselves in a comfortable space that is favorable to us. We have integrated change and we have adapted to innovation. However, the innovation curve is continuous. At this point, we will have to be vigilant, since we may be at the dawn of a new modification.
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The innovation curve is a search for fulfillment, it is finding best practices to carry out our activities, it is the path of excellence. Of course, the path is not easy since it is a human characteristic to promote stability. Instability makes you dizzy and dizzy. If we are the ones stimulating change, we have to take charge of the resistance curve that exists. If we are the ones who are suffering, with more reason we must know the stages. Applying the parking brake is not a good idea, it creates friction and slows down the movement that will occur anyway.
The important thing is to get to know our actions and our reactions to be able to take a proactive attitude that induces creativity, brings improvement and helps us to deploy personal, professional, executive and entrepreneurial potential that will lead to progress.
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