Resiliency and the Cycle of Change

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Characteristics needed for resiliency.

Darryl Conner in his book, Managing at the Speed of Change, lists five characteristics of resiliency. These features are to:

• Be Positive - See life as challenging, dynamic, and filled with opportunities.
• Be Focused - Determine where you are headed and stick to that goal so that barriers do not block your way
• Be Flexible - Open yourself to different possibilities when faced with uncertainty.
• Be Organized - Develop structured approaches to be able to manage the unknown.
• Be Proactive - Look ahead, actively engage change, and work with it.

These resiliency features can be mapped on to the Cycle of Change and show us how resiliency helps at each step of the cycle.

Being proactive enables you to prepare for what might be coming. It helps you to scan for signs of change at the step of sensing "something’s up." Focus is needed to clarify the situation and clearly identify the problem or opportunity. Organization enables the development of a comprehensive and detailed plan of implementation. A positive outlook facilitates the actual beginning of the work of change as plans are put into action. Flexibility will be needed as adjustments are made and you begin to sense that "this will work." From the position of having gotten through change you once again need to be proactive as you look ahead to what might be next and prepare to go around the cycle once again. Surviving change will depend upon being a resilient individual. And resiliency will be needed because change always brings resistance.

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