Change Management — A Lesson From Livestock
My uncle and aunt own a dairy farm, which has been a part of my family for six generations. I practically grew up there and was no stranger to the hard work that it entails.
Even after growing up, I tried to help there as often as I could. So, whenever my uncle and aunt took a well-deserved vacation, I helped with the daily chores.
One of my tasks was to feed the calves. It is more than just throwing down hay and re-bedding their pen. Within days after their birth, the newborn calves must be weaned away from their mother to a bottle, and then must learn how to drink from a pail without a nipple.
When pail-feeding them for the first few times, you sometimes have to place your own finger inside the pail to simulate a nipple, so they will drink the milk. Yes, it’s gross, but no one said farming was easy.
As the calf gets used to this method, you then slowly remove your finger from the pail, and then they must make the connection that their food is actually in the pail and not coming from the “nipple” (finger). Some calves catch on right away, while others . . . well, not so much.
Welcome to change management, agricultural-style. For the calves who take more time to wean from the nipple to the pail, it can be very frustrating for the change agent (me).
There is always a period right after a change has occurred, where those who are impacted must learn to adapt and transition to the new way. Any change means an end to the former way of doing things, and some find it very difficult to let go of the past. According to the book Managing Transitions, that period immediately following a change is known as the “neutral zone”.
The book notes that being in the neutral zone means that the “old” way is gone, but the “new” way is not fully functional yet. We cannot expect people to hit the ground running and achieve the same level of productivity immediately after a change has occurred.
So, how did I guide the calves through the neutral zone, and how does could it relate to guiding humans through change?
- Stay consistent — Do not allow opportunities to revert back to the old way. For the calves who struggled with the pail, it was very tempting to give them the bottle just to get them fed. I had to stay mindful that the goal was not for them to drink the milk, but that they drink the milk in a certain way.
- Accept that it may take time for some people to let go of the old way. The calves that struggled to adapt to the pail ended up hungry for a period of time. Because food is essential for survival, oftentimes their hunger alone made them desperate enough to start drinking from the pail . . . and that is when they finally accepted the change and moved forward.
- Celebrate the successes — Calves are not pets and shouldn’t be treated as such. However, when one of them finally drank properly from the pail, I couldn’t resist giving them a gentle pat and showing them a little affection.
Forgive me for comparing humans to dairy cattle, but having been around both on a regular basis, it was hard not to notice the similarities in how each handles change. Regardless of the species you are dealing with, it is a good reminder that the neutral zone is always present and cannot be overlooked during times of transition.
NOTE: Be assured no animals were harmed or starved during this process.
