Managing Change: Seeing Opportunities as Well as Dangers

In business settings and popular psychology, how many of us have been introduced to the idea that the Chinese characters for “danger” and “opportunity”, combined together, convey the concept of change or crisis?

Change is a fact of life, and it occurs more and more frequently. Knowing how to handle change quickly and successfully is truly a survival skill. Health experts say that even changes which may be viewed as positive – a vacation, a marriage, the birth of a child, a promotion or new job – are causes of stress. Many of us would love to make life less stressful, and are constantly seeking better ways to adapt to change. Perhaps that’s the reason why thinking in terms of “dangers” and “opportunities” is so popular.

What does it take to make the shift from seeing only the dangers to finding the opportunities?

When first encountering a change, we move to survival mode and tend to see only the dangers or negatives. A reorganization at work may cause worry about upcoming layoffs or reassignment of responsibilities, loss of colleagues and good working relationships, concern about longer work hours. Or when beginning a new job, the fear creeps in and the questions abound: Will I like my new coworkers? Boss? Company? Can I really do the job? Should have stayed at my old job? Closer to home, the last child leaving for college may trigger a parent’s worries about him finding his place on campus, making new friends, staying safe and even doing his laundry correctly.

Most people find that as time passes, their perspective begins to shift as the potential danger diminishes and they begin to see the opportunities the change might present. The positive aspects become more apparent when a sense of what is within one’s control is reestablished. The response may move from worry to thoughts more like these: This restructuring gives me a chance to develop new expertise. I have a shorter commute to my new job. It may be good for my spouse and me to have more time for ourselves.

Maybe the dual aspects of danger and opportunity are so appealing to our culture because it helps to have a framework to view our situations. And if the pace of change continues at the predicted rate, we may be healthier and happier if we guide ourselves to become people who can look at a glass of water and see it as half-full rather than half-empty. Surround yourself with those “glass half-full” people who have realistic yet positive outlooks on life. Together challenge yourselves to heed the dangers while discovering the opportunities.