On Serenity and Organisational Change

14 Jul 2025

Photo by pine watt on Unsplash

Acknowledging the Dynamics of Change

Organisations change. I can attest to that, having experienced many during my 42-year career.

Reflecting on my journey

When I think back over those 42 years, they have certainly included many twists and turns.

Changes in my own career have sometimes come about due to personal circumstances and priorities. For example, having had the opportunity to grow in may ways during more than two years at IBM in the mid to late 1980s, I faced a crossroads. Together with my wife, I had the opportunity to travel extensively on a UK working holiday visa. If I recall correctly, IBM offered me six months leave without pay. In my mind, that wasn’t enough. So, we parted company.

Fast forward to the late 1990s. I’d been working as a Senior Consultant for a small, privately owned consultancy in Sydney. Again, I was fortunate to learn many things during my time at Advanced Software Engineering. In this case, my departure turned out to be beyond my control. The founders sold the company to an American company, which resulted in myself and another consultant being made redundant. As a consequence of a fundamental organisational change, I was faced with the challenge of finding another position.

Frustrations

It can be frustrating when faced with the personal impacts of change that results from decisions made by others in an organisation.

I know I haven’t always behaved in a way that I’m proud of in these circumstances.

There have been times when I’ve been convinced that a decision was wrong and allowed my conviction to spill over into expressing my point of view in an argumentative, passionate way that was unlikely to have any impact on the decision. All it did was did a deeper hole of personal frustration! And it was unlikely to improve my reputation within the organisation.

I guess I’m human!

When I think back over my career, there have been times when my frustration has contributed to a decision to leave and seek a position elsewhere. I can recall times when such a decision has certainly led to relief that I could contribute positively without the distractions of what I thought were changes in the wrong direction.

However, organisations do change. Positive experiences at the start of a relationship with an employer can turn sour quickly.

Opportunities to influence

When I reflect on my own experiences, there have been times when I’ve had opportunities to influence organisational change.

Obviously it has depended on my position within the organisation. I’ll exclude the years when I was self-employed from these reflections. Rather, I’ll focus on times when I’ve been working for an organisation of at least a medium size.

On one occasion I recall speaking up, asking a senior leader whether they were familiar with the book “Managing Transitions” ¹, which I had just finished reading and thought was relevant to the situation. This resulted in me being afforded an opportunity to contribute to a group that focussed on change across the organisation. A key lesson that I learnt from this experience was the importance of well thought out, considerate and respectful communication plans.

It’s not always possible to influence change. However, I can reflect on occasions when I have. When possible, I’ve sought to enable those affected by the change to have their say rather than presenting a decision that has already been made. Obviously, this is not always possible. Whatever the case, having a good communication plan is vital.

Acceptance

Reflecting again on times when I’ve been surprised by major organisational change, I can recall one instance when, in the process of adjusting to a change that had a significant impact on my position within the organisation, I reached out directly to the executive in my reporting line. I recall having been dumbfounded by some of the decisions.

The way that I phrased our conversation was this. I was seeking to understand why these decisions had been made. On reflection, this was certainly a better approach than some other reactions I’ve had in my career.

I’ve come to realise that, whilst I have no control over some decisions which lead to major organisational change, I can decide how I respond. If I choose to stay, seeking to understand can help me accept the change and move on. The book “Surviving Change” ² explores this aspect on more detail.

In Conclusion

Whilst I am not religious, in the context of change, I find the sentiments of the Serenity Prayer helpful. Here are the words I like to return to from time to time, to help me focus on the role I can play in change.

Importantly, they help me to take deep breaths before considering and deciding what to do in the context of change.

Sometimes, seeking serenity is the wisest approach. Sometimes, courage is my best option. I won’t always get it right. Hopefully, I’ll learn from my mistakes.

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