Implementing change successfully has always been a challenge for leaders and organizations, but the “why” is elusive. When John Kotter published his book Leading Change in 1996, everyone finally thought they had the answer via an eight-step approach. Well, without diminishing Kotter’s wisdom, recent reviews suggest the field of change management hasn’t really produced any successful programs.

A brain-based approach to change management may make a positive difference because it provides a deeper understanding of resistance as well as the tools to increase success. With a negativity bias, the brain is on the alert for possible threats and will interpret emotional and social events outside of the habitual as potentially threatening at the same level as physical threats.

Change, with all its uncertainty and exclusion implications, becomes an easy candidate for fear responses and resistance. Furthermore, the propensity of the brain to create patterns and then try to fit them in new situations rather than innovate will magnify opposition to change and attempts to find reasons to avoid it.

Even when it becomes obvious that pre-existing patterns will not work and a new approach is a must, perceptions of threat versus opportunity might derail a successful change management implementation.

Change can easily generate security concerns because the “new” is unfamiliar and uncertain. It also impacts autonomy because change, more often than not, is mandated and out of one’s perceived control prompting questions of fairness. Change might also require new skill sets with different roles and responsibilities that might lead to perceptions of being less relevant, which can subsequently become a threat to esteem. Finally, trust comes into play because the benefits or reason for the change might appear obscure and the process is lacking transparency.

On the positive side, the same challenges can become opportunities. For instance, one can query what aspects of the change might increase our safety, allow us to have more control over our work and increase fairness, esteem and trust.

Building psychological safety by focusing on commonalities will also constructively impact a change initiative, starting with an appreciation that bias and fear are habitual responses and not character flaws. Being sensitive to the fact that a fear response is common when it comes to change and increasing one’s awareness of situations that bring forth biases and triggers will create more comfort with the diverse responses of team members and increase engagement, motivation and cooperation.