Change is Hard. How Understanding the Stages of Grief Can Help Unlock Our Own Acceptance of Organizational Change.

Most of us don't realize it, but the stages of grief apply more broadly to the stages of change. Think about the last time you had something in your professional life that felt big. So big that you felt it was a change that was sweeping you up with it. Maybe you were recently laid off, or you got a new manager, or you had a restructuring at your organization.

The Kubler-Ross Model for Grief (or in this case), Change

I was at an organization some time ago, and I had given it a good old college try. Almost two years worth of a try, but it just wasn't a situation going in the direction I could see myself staying in for a few more years; I went through this exact thing, as we all do when faced with change.

I was shocked to be in the position in the first place, and wrestled with all of the stages mentioned in the model, until I decided it was time to move on, which, let's face it, was not a fun position to be in and I was angry about being there in the first place. I saw potential, and I wanted to see it work, but it just wasn't.

When faced with any change, positive or negative, ask yourself a few questions to generate some self- inquiry:

• What happens if this fails?

• Where do I go from there?

• What would happen if I reframed my thoughts around this perceived change to have a more open-minded outlook? Are there possibilities I haven't seen yet, or can I experience a growth mindset in this instance instead?

One last thought, as unfathomable and kind of scary as it seems, change is the ONLY thing we can count on in this life as everything is always in flux, even when it seems things can often stay the same.