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One Does Not Simply Walk Into Change

VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) is the best description of the current status of the world. COVID-19 forced upon us drastic changes in how businesses operate, how we work, how people interact with each other. Who knows how long lasting, if not permanent, the impact of such changes would be.


Under such ever-changing circumstances, how are you coping with the changes? How do you strategize to remain effective?


Changes take a toll on us as human beings. Psychoanalytic researches has shown that periods of changes and transitions are often accompanied by feelings of anxiety and loss. Sigmund Freud noted that instead of willingly accepting the changes, people develop 'defensive responses'. When a person is willing to engage threats and changes, such ego-defenses act in a balanced manner and helps to reduce uncertainty, enabling effective behaviors.


Have you ever experienced an illusion where even when the situation has drastically changed, you think it's just temporary, and you could simply make it through by doing 'business as usual'? While it might be true, it could also be the well-known ego-defense process denial playing a role there. Denial helps us minimize the sense of anxiety that accompanies change, giving us comfort amidst the emotional turbulence. However, over-functioning of denial could lead to self-deception and failure to address feelings that accompanies changes.


Some people may seem quick in accepting the fact that things have changed and 'life is never going to be the same again'. This is likely another ego-defense process rationalization taking place, such that the person would feel that everything is still 'under control'. Rationalization helps us justify unacceptable feelings or behaviors by making them seem plausible. Without it, our sense of psychological identity would be at risk. Over-functioning of rationalization would however eliminate expression of feelings, which could be suppressed until the emotional threshold is reached.


Another ego-defense process is known as sublimation, and is often seen as a 'healthier' ego-defense mechanism. When negative energies and emotions arise from unpleasant changes, sublimation helps us channel such energies into socially acceptable behaviors, for example using our creativity to envision the bright opportunities that arouse from such changes. However, over-functioning of sublimation may lead to negligence of the present challenges.


There is no such thing as 'One Ring to Rule Them All'. Without being conscious about our own psychological responses to changes, such mechanisms may go wild, leaving us in a state of ineffectiveness.


It is important to be conscious about how our ego-defenses are shaping our paradigms, such that we could balance between different processes, helping us mitigate negative circumstances, maintain psychological health and take effective measures to react. It is, however, easier said than done. It's our subconscious ego-defense mechanism we're talking here. It takes conscious effort, quality self-reflection and deep discussion with someone you trust.


One does not simply walk into change, but with proper preparation and support, one could soar through it.

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Reference:

Brown A (1997). Narcissism, identity and legitimacy. Academy of Management Review 22(3): 643–686.

Brown A and Starkey K (2000). Organizational Identity and Learning: A Psychodynamic Perspective. Academy of Management Review 25(1): 105-120

Freud S (1962 [1894]). The neuro-psychoses of defence. In: Strachey J (ed. and trans.) The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, vol. III. London: Hogarth Press, 43-68

Hoyer P and Steyaert C (2015). Narrative identity construction in times of career change: Taking note of unconscious desires. Human Relations 68(12): 1837-1863

Kim E, Zeppenfeld V and Cohen D (2013). Sublimation, Culture and Creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 105(4): 639-666

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