The human brain is wired for comfort and certainty. It likes routines, patterns and habits. Change — like that being experienced by businesses across Australia in the aftermath of natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, skills shortages and technology advances — challenges us. The primitive reptilian part of our brain called the amygdala interprets change as a threat to our safety and control, putting us into fight, flight or freeze mode. Even small or positive change can send people on a spiral of anxiety, confusion, distraction, and resistance — which can play out in a host of damaging ways in the workplace.
