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developed a two-channel construct
to create a visual about what it
looks like.
“The first channel is our survive
channel,” said Dr. Ahktar, “and
that’s constantly scanning our environments for threats. And when we
spot a threat, we go into fight or
flight mode—there are chemicals
released in our brains that put us
into tunnel-vision, problem-solving
mode.” Jumping out of the way of
an oncoming car, she said, is an
example of our survival channel
working well. However, when this
channel becomes overheated or
over-activated, we go into a freeze
response—and this is where we can
see a lot of resistance to change.
“We’re seeing this more and more
in today’s world and in our organizations,” said Dr. Ahktar. “There’s
so much coming at us, and we don’t
know how to handle it so we just
stop. We just maintain the status
quo.”
On the other end of the spectrum,
however, Dr. Ahktar says our
thrive channel is constantly seeking
opportunities. When this is sparked,
dopamine and other chemicals are
released in our brains.
“That allows us to really open our
aperture—to see what’s possible,”
said Dr. Ahktar. “We can collaborate
and innovate in new ways.”
Biologically, however, Dr. Ahktar
says the thrive channel is not as
strong as the survive channel.
“So we have to really intentionally
nurture it and find ways to activate
it,” she explained.
The second component to the
science of change Dr. Ahktar
outlined is around the modern organization and how it’s designed.
“The hierarchy that we know today
was developed through the Industrial
www.semiconductordigest.com
Revolution,” said Dr. Ahktar, “so
it’s still relatively new in the grand
scheme of things.”
This hierarchy, she said, was built
for efficiency and reliability—what
was most important to the world
at the time. And while it is still
important today, Dr. Ahktar pointed
out that these hierarchies do not
account for flexibility and adaptability, to respond to today’s world.
She spoke on the need for fusing an
entrepreneurial spirit alongside a
traditional hierarchy, to restructure
organizational hierarchies with
today’s changing, fast-paced needs
in mind.
The third component of Dr.
Ahktar’s science of change centered
on the research Kotter has gathered
on organizations that are really good
at transformation. According to Dr.
Ahktar, only about 5% of companies
exceed expectations during transformation efforts, and the researchers
at Kotter found there are two key
elements in what these companies do
that sets them apart from the rest.
The first, Dr. Ahktar explained, is
creating a big opportunity.
“A burning platform might get you
to move initially, but it doesn’t create
sustained change,” she said. “No one
would choose that over—what is that
exciting thing that we get to chase
after together? Opportunity followed
by a building sense of urgency—
getting people to come on board and
understand what will be different
when we change. Remove barriers
and celebrate short-term wins. Make
sure that you sustain and embed the
change.”
The last element revolved around
what Dr. Ahktar called the four core
principals.
“These really are polarities or
tensions that you need to navigate
whenever you’re working through
change,” said Dr. Ahktar. “The first
is management and leadership, and
we think about these as behavioral
rather than positional. We need
more leadership from more people.
We need people who are setting a
vision for what’s possible.”
The second core principal Dr.
Ahktar outlined revolved around
head and heart.
“It’s important to have a rational
reason to implement change,” she
said, “but you have to engage people’s emotions. If you think about
big changes you made in your
personal life, I guarantee there was
some visceral element that helped
you along to make and sustain that
change.”
The third is utilizing both what Dr.
Ahktar called the have tos and the
want tos.
“There will always be things you
have to do,” she said, “but the more
we create a sense of want to, the
more people are going to bring new
energy and new ideas and you’re
going to get so much more out of
yourself the teams you’re working
with.”
And finally, Dr. Ahktar’s four core
principal encouraged diversifying
and expanding.
“We need to be engaging many
more people,” she said. “You’re going
to get more creative solutions if you
bring more voices into the room.”
Ultimately, to weather a world
where the only constant is change,
Dr. Ahktar and Koter stress the need
for more organizations that have
agile and adaptable cultures.
“And when you put the science of
change into practice, it helps us build
those cultures,” she said. “Everyone
in this room has a role to play in
making this a reality.”
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