I recently came across the following from famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson:

“In science, when human behaviour enters the equation, things go non-linear. That’s why physics is easy and sociology is hard,”.

I’m not a scientist but I’ve seen how true this is throughout my career in a business setting.

According to Chip and Dan Heath, co-authors of the book “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard,” the answer is somewhere inside our brain, where two different systems – the rational mind and the emotional mind – compete for control.

“The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine.”

Similarly, I’ve seen too often how logic and data miss the mark, while emotion dominates the day.

The tension that exists within the minds of employees and managers creates conflict. And this conflict makes change more challenging.

As a change agent, leaders need to marshall a specialized set of skills and tactics to help people navigate through the tension and chaos it can create, to successfully transition from whatever today is to whatever tomorrow needs to be.

Most people in the workplace have limited awareness of and tolerance for the emotional aspects of human dynamics. It’s messy and uncomfortable.

We just want people to do what we ask (or tell) them, dammit!

But it just doesn’t work that way in the modern workplace. Gone are the days when the boss simply says “Do this” and the staffer said “ok!”

Now, everyone wants to know why? We all have opinions. We have ideas. We have experience. Expertise. We want to share. We want to play. We want to have a say. We want to contribute. We know things. And sometimes, the manager doesn’t actually know best.

And this annoys managers.

“You don’t need to know why, just do your job.”

“But if I understand why, I can do a better job of delivering what you need.”

And on and on we go.

When people are involved (which is always), change is hard… even when it’s a change they want. Transitioning from what we know to what we don’t know is a challenge.

And most of the people driving change are ill-equipped to help make it happen.

So what can you do?

Listen. Ask. Act.

Learn more.

Talk less.

When you begin to understand where people are, you can start to think about how to help them.

Have a great week!