Letting Go: Managing Change

Managing change
How do we manage change? We only have to think about technology and how quickly new mobile phones or computer software packages are developed and advertised to know that we live in a world that requires us to adjust to different systems that support our daily lives. In schools, there are many examples of the need to adapt to change. Staff members come and go, and as a result, roles may be modified or reshaped, requiring other staff to take on new roles or have a different connection to the workplace. There may be a sense of loss when teachers go on long service leave, move to another a school or retire. A principal may leave, and the new leader may have very different ideas about how things should be done. It has been estimated that there could be a changeover in staff of between 20% and 30% in a year, and teachers who remain have to manage their ability to accept changes. In addition, teachers may experience sadness when students leave school.

For some people, Information Technology support may change; new software programs can mean that they may have to develop different knowledge and skills to relearn what had been familiar processes. When our workplace changes, we may experience a range of feelings, and we need to reflect on how we respond to events that are not within our control. We may move workplaces or change living arrangements. Such changes may affect our equilibrium and wellbeing.

‘The only constant is change …’
Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, declared: ‘the only constant is change’. Whatever our age or stage, we have to learn how to cope with change in our personal and professional lives. Different people will respond differently when circumstances change in a workplace. Some people will work harder, and others may resist or take time to adapt. Unexpected circumstances can take away the self-esteem that we invest in our working lives and we can experience feelings of sadness because our expectations have changed (Bright, R. 2006). The challenge is to work out how we respond to the changes in our life. What can we do to prepare ourselves for the fact that circumstances do not remain the same, and that we may need to compromise between our expectations and the reality of our lives?

Change as loss?
The sadness or sense of loss we can feel as a result of change is a normal reaction. However, we have to be aware that holding onto these feelings can get in the way of accepting the need to make transitions. Writers such as Zita Weber, lecturer in Social Work, Social Policy and Sociology at the University of Sydney, show us that every person experiences incidental and inevitable losses and disappointments, in addition to the major losses in life. Weber says that we need to undertake ‘work’ in order to accept and integrate our responses to new circumstances. This work may include the processes of understanding grief and experiencing the feeling of loss.

Grief is a complex human reaction that involves thoughts, feelings and behaviour as responses to loss. Weber uses the concept of grief as work to show that we must actively work through pain and loss in order to move through the experiences and integrate them into our lives.

This idea of grief as work might help you understand that although you feel helpless and powerless, you do have some control over how you choose to deal with your grief. You will know that grief is not something that just eases with the passage of time but rather a process which needs to be actively entered into - giving yourself over to getting in touch with your coping skills and adjusting to changes’. (p 78)

Four tasks of grieving
Grieving can be thought of as a process. It is the way we adapt and adjust to a loss that may be caused by a change in our circumstances or through the death of someone close to us. According to J. William Worden, a world-renowned Grief Studies academic, there are four tasks of grieving. They are not prescribed in a specific order - in fact, a person might work on all four tasks at one time in the process of grieving. The four tasks of grieving were developed in the context of counselling in bereavement, although they are applicable in other situations where there is change, and as a consequence, individuals experience a sense of loss.

Task 1 - Accepting the reality of loss
It is necessary to realise that the loss has taken place, and that a person may experience denial. It involves intellectual and emotional understanding of what or who has been lost and what has changed.

Task 2 - Working through the pain of grief
In this task you stay with and acknowledge the sadness and uncomfortable feelings. This involves experiencing the emotions in order for them to lessen in rawness and intensity.

Task 3 - Adjusting to a different environment
This task challenges your beliefs and values and requires you to find the motivation to accept the changes. You are challenged to find the confidence to learn and try new skills to deal with the loss.

Task 4 - Relocating the loss and moving on
In this task, you will take the step to say ‘goodbye’ to what has been, and discover and accept new experiences. The challenge is to let go of your attachment to the past and take steps to reinvest your emotional energy and make connections with others to develop new ways of being and operating.

When is grief complete?
A strategy that may assist with the process of letting go is to move through the four tasks of grieving. Worden says that grief is complete when the individual can experience pleasure, engage with new experiences and take on new roles, although there may be occasional feelings of sadness. It is a challenge to integrate the sadness of loss although understanding the process of grieving enables people to understand their behaviour.

The challenge of letting go

If we are able to integrate changes and the sense of loss that may accompany them, we take the steps towards letting go and ‘moving on’ in our lives. We will become aware of our ability to make transitions in our life without feeling overwhelmed and destabilised. It is possible to develop the capacity to let go, as Peter Senge et al outline in their conversations about ‘presence’. They define the idea of detachment as, 'Getting to the "different place" …[which] begins as we develop a capacity to let go and surrender our perceived need to control.' They emphasise the need to 'be open to what is emerging' in the process of letting go.

Comment
This approach to responding to change and working through the tasks of grieving is linked to the Staff Matters Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace Model which promotes the importance of having a clear sense of self (the 'thriving self' or personal aspect of Staff Matters). The model emphasises the value of knowing our needs so we can understand and develop our own mental health and wellbeing resources.

It is also useful to remember that the four MindMatters principles for successful transitions would assist in thinking about letting go. The principles are:

Preparation for the change - and emotional needs are considered
Starting the leaving - and acknowledging the transition
Beginning the arriving - plans and processes are considered
Consolidation - contact people and structures are maintained.

In a fast-paced workplace where we are going to be challenged continually to accept that circumstances evolve and change, it is beneficial to understand that we can let go. We may have to engage in the process of grieving. We can learn to detach and this attitude will assist us to take on changes, and move forward with more ease.

References
Bright, R. (1996, 2006), Grief and powerlessness: Helping people regain control of their lives, Jessica Kingsley, London.

Senge, P. et al (2005), Presence: Exploring profound change in people, organizations and society, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London.

Weber, Z.A. (2001), Good grief: How to recover from grief, loss or a broken heart, Double Bay, Sydney.

Worden, J. W. (2001), Grief counselling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health professional (3rd edition), Springer Publishing Company New York.