Understanding Change

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Understanding Change

• Gideon Malherbe
• Virtual Consulting Inc.
• [phone]
• WWW.Virtualconsulting.com

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Change Dimensions

• Physical
• Emotive
• Rational
• Behavioral
• Spiritual

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Physical Change

• Time
• Life Cycles and Expectancy
• Real Time - Last competitive frontier

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Physical Change

• Space between us and the physical world
• Feet on the ground, fix what we use we were self
  sufficient - Rural World
• Know what we need/use, but cant fix them -
  Industrial World
• Dont know what we need, nor what we use - Cyber
  World

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Space Time
The further we travel from our past, the closer
we get to our future.
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Space Time
Yesterday
Tomorrow
Today
Today is spent affirming the past or creating
the future. Change dictates that we spend today
building tomorrow. Yesterday is a closed deal
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Space Time
Yesterday
Tomorrow
Today
Creative tension between us and the
future creates meaning. Meaning includes
tension The CPA Vision Report creates
creative tension for the profession
Frustration Meaning.. Use tension to orient
yourself...
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Physical Change

• Space Time
• Time Implosion
• Space Implosion
• Energy Implosion
• From Exhaustion to Exasperation
• Path of life leads to closure
• Path of life ends too soon

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Change Dimensions

• Physical
• Emotive
• Rational
• Behavioral
• Spiritual

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Change and our Emotions
A Process

• Shock
• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance

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Change and our Emotions

• Shock
• Taken back by the fact that I haven't seen it
  before
• Surprised at the audacity to even think that I
  have to change
• Horrified that someone is implying that I have
  been wrong all this time

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Change and our Emotions

• Denial
• Your change proposal is so surreal that I prefer
  to reflect an even more surreal position - that
  reality doesn't exist
• Defenses uses include
• Yes I must do this, but I have this other
  priority
• Oh that, I am already doing it (not recognizing
  the gap)

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Change and our Emotions

• Anger
• Killing the messenger is part of our natural
  response
• Gives me time to vent my sense of loss and
  futility of past investments
• Lightening rod effect -- release of unrelated
  frustration and exasperation

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Change and our Emotions

• Bargaining
• Terminal Uniqueness
• My members are different
• Different process, consultant, method
• Language game
• Too expensive, slow, fast, disruptive, and
  cumbersome (I dont understand)

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Change and our Emotions

• Depression
• Drained of energy with no visible results yet
• No will to keep on competing
• Procrastination
• Overwhelmed
• No clear path to succeed

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Change and our Emotions

• Acceptance
• Ok, lets get down to business
• Willingness to share
• Internalization of the change
• Understanding and clarity for seeing a starting
  point

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Change Dimensions

• Physical
• Emotive
• Rational
• Behavioral
• Spiritual

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Reason and Change

• We can rationalize anything. Including to change
  or not to change

Absolute World Mathematics True in all
worlds Deduced World Science True in some
worlds Living World Sociology True in some
communities Ideal World Philosophy Truth is
the question Ideal Other World Religion True in
other worlds
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Application of Reason
Absolute, Deduced, Living, Ideal or Other Worldly

• What Rational Mode do we Use when we..
• Negotiate a price?
• Express a feeling?
• Seek direction?
• Give an opinion?
• Initiate change?

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Application of Reason
Absolute, Deduced, Living, Ideal or Other Worldly

• Change Initiation
• Living Language to connect with other people
• Uses Ideal and Deduced stories as examples -
  seldom absolute or other worldly...

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Change Dimensions

• Physical
• Emotive
• Rational
• Behavioral
• Spiritual

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Change and Behavior

• Three types of Behaviors
• Type I Principal Relationships
• Type II Strategic Alignment
• Type III Adaptiveness

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Change and Behavior

• Type I Principal Relationships
• Rules of the Game
• No sacred cows
• Open communication and focus on member needs
• Failure is acceptable
• Market driven decision making
• Dont sacrifice long term goals for short term
  gains
• Willingness/commitment to continual change
• Wont sacrifice the core values of the profession

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Change and Behavior

• Type II Strategic Alignment
• Behavior that Focuses on strategy
• Uses tension to align/directs energy toward the
  trend flow -- maximizes opportunity to take
  advantage of the change rather than resist it

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Change and Behavior

• Type III Adaptiveness
• Bankers dilemma
• Inherent disposition towards flexibility,
  diversity and change
• We have to manifest and create this environment

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Change Dimensions

• Physical
• Emotive
• Rational
• Behavioral
• Spiritual

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On the Spiritual side.

• We struggle to commit to either
• Repetition or uniqueness
• or renewal of the repeated,
• or repeating what is unique.

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On the Spiritual side.

• We dont want sense,
• nor understanding,
• nor workability,
• nor efficiency.
• We seek meaning.

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On the Spiritual side.

• The Struggle Between
• Survival and Meaning
• Survival Calls for Defenses,
• Meaning Calls for Change.

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On the Spiritual side.

• We live in a dynamic world that demands a dynamic
  response
• Conflict
• Uncertainty
• Surprises
• But, it makes life meaningful

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Change Dimensions

• Physical
• Emotive
• Rational
• Behavioral
• Spiritual