Lessons on Change Management from Spring
Spring is my most favorite season, partly because my birthday falls during this time of the year and partly because of the freshness it brings to life. Just the other weekend, during a walk around the park on bright on sunny & windy spring day, it struck me how much we can learn from spring about change management in our professional lives. Here are my top five learnings.
1) Change is beautiful, but comes with its share of upheaval - Spring, the season that falls between end of winter and starting of summer, is the epitome of new vegetation and flowers blooming. It is synonymous metaphorically with new beginnings, vitality and green shoots coming through. At the same time it does come with its share of trials. During spring, allergies and flu cases are the highest compared with any other part of the year. The changing weather means a lot of us are caught off-guard in how over/ under clad us maybe, thereby exposing us to health conditions.
A lot of times, weather at work or personally, we are stuck counting the pain as we are going through a phase of change. Often, we are caught off-guard and underprepared during these times. Be it adjusting to a new role, enhanced set of responsibilities or a new reporting structure. It is important to realize that everything beautiful comes with its share of challenges and upheaval. Equally, beautiful changes do not land in full bloom all of a sudden, but through some minimal green shoots. Accepting these realities can make the journey easier to navigate, and helps us prepare to deal with the change. For instance, when going through a reorganization, it’s important to recognize and acknowledge there will be pain of ambiguity, new reporting lines, etc., but the on the other side of it lies a potentially brighter future.
2) Cold wave before the warmth - Period preceding spring is where winter and darkness literally is at its peak, the trees are bare, and warmth looks like a distant dream. Much like this, in our professional sphere too, we are often confounded by tough periods of low sales growth as an organization, a tough or unreasonable boss to deal with, or a marquee project that requires us to stretch for long periods of time. It is important to have faith in the natural cycle and realize that this too shall pass, if we continue to focus on the process and have a belief that things will work out. Sometimes the cycle may last a few months or a in some cases many a month. The key remains to have unrelenting focus on the basics even if we aren’t seeing the results as yet.
3) Patience is key – Patience is key, when it comes to professional pursuits much like nature. Everything has a time and a place. The flower doesn’t blossom in winter by giving it more manure or hoping for that to happen. It blooms only when spring kicks in and the time is just right. Expecting things to fructify much faster than is their natural cycle is unreal and disappointing to say the least. In today’s time of technological disruption and instant gratification, it is important to realize that patience is a virtue that needs to remain front and centre.
4) Your spring can come at different times – Spring is generally defined in the Northern Hemisphere as extending from the vernal equinox (day and night equal in length), March 20/ 21, to the summer solstice (year’s longest day), June 21/ 22, and in the Southern Hemisphere from September 22 or 23 to December 22 or 23.
Drawing a parallel to the work life, it is important to recognize that our spring doesn’t necessarily coincide with that of others. So if someone is getting that promotion within 2 years, doesn’t mean you will get yours too in that time. It could mean a brighter future but the timing could be different – sooner or latter. It’s unfair on yourself to compare your situation and timing with that of others, as the only purpose it serves is to make you feel unnecessarily elated (if things have worked out faster) or despondent (if things are taking more time).
5) Prepare for the Summer in Spring – All of us are likely to have phases of spring and growth in our professional lives. However, during these times of upward swing, it is important to realize that this balmy sunshine phase won’t last forever. It will be followed by an intense phase of the sun beating down on us or the cold winter. And therefore it is important for us to make the most of the spring phase and continue investing for the future. Grasshopper and the ant story is another great remainder of this phenomena, though it references different seasons. From a professional standpoint, this could mean investing to build a network of mentors and peers you can reach out to, upskilling yourself, financial planning to keep aside finances for the future slowdown, etc. during our heydays.
