Adapting to Change

In today’s world, organizations have to adapt to change to survive and succeed. When you’re looking for work, it’s important to show an employer that you embrace change, that you are flexible and can even bring about change. Let’s look at what is involved in change, the process of handling change and the acceptance of change.

Sometimes we initiate change, sometimes you don’t see it coming. In any event, it’s constant in our lives – personal and professional.
The only thing constant in life is change.

— Heraclitus, Ancient Greek Philosopher

Heraclitus challenges the idea that some things simply stay the same: we may not see the change so clearly, but change is occurring nonetheless.

— thedailyphilosopher.org

Change is inevitable, yet in many cases we fight it.  But is change such a bad thing?  If change were a bad thing, then we’d never get married, or have children or start new businesses. Some changes that we choose allow us to grow, learn and be happy. Think about what changes you’ve recently made in your life.  What have those changes brought to you? Think about those unexpected changes that occurred when you had absolutely no control. How did you deal with them? Were there some unexpected benefits?

Change defined

Change is:

 

At its most basic level, change is a movement out of a current state (how things are today), through a transition state and to a future state (how things will be done). Change happens all around us – at home, in our community and at work. Changes can be internally motivated or externally motivated. The change can be a dramatic departure from what we know or it can be minor. Changes can be anticipated or unexpected. But in all cases, the fundamental nature of change is a movement from the current state through a transition state to a future state.

— change-management.com

Change is a necessary element of growth. If we change we grow . . . If we don’t change, we don’t grow . . . We stagnate

— Stanley F. Bronstein

Factors which influence change:

According to Sara Robinson, the following factors bring about change:

• Progress
• Development
• Technology
• New ideas
• Innovation in the market
• Cyclical events
• Conflict
• Alterations in the status quo – power
• Evolution
• Complex things that we sometimes don’t understand, like chaos.