Knowledge is Power

“Anxiety is a simple misuse of imagination”

Anon

In five days time I will be undergoing brain-surgery to help reduce some of my significant Parkinson’s Disease symptoms. This is quite a daunting process but one thing I have learnt in the last few few years is that to reduce fear you need to acquire information and support because fear thrives on isolation. As I have mentioned before sometimes you need to shine a light on the change monster hiding under the bed, or in the wardrobe as once you actually perceive it your attitude it changes.

There is saying that goes something like this… “When the Angel of Death approaches it is horrific; when he reaches you it is bliss…..”. Now I don’t want to get overly pretentious about this, after all, this is primarily a blog about business analysis but on the other hand what is business analysis if not delivering change? And what is change if not the death of something that you hold dear, value or otherwise emotionally invest in? This thing and it’s death could be as simple as having to work different hours again or take on a new role. Or it could be as significant as a major diagnosis where you have to bid farewell to major life plans, either way it is still challenging and you can reduce the challenge by finding out more about the situation.

Let’s look at the Change Curve model below.

We can see that as an individual encounters change a lot of the emotions are negative and that during this period it is important that the individual is communicated with and receives support; then once the change has been accepted the provision of knowledge and direction becomes paramount. My own journey regarding my impending surgery illustrates this. Despite my devil-may-care image* I have been quite apprehensive about the experience and needed to come to terms with it. How I did this could be a post in itself but I will summarise it thusly…

“Do you hear that Mr Anderson…? That’s the sound of inevitability….”

Agent Smith, ‘The Matrix’

I came to realise that change of some kind was indeed inevitable for me; my condition was going to get worse (Parkinson’s is progressive and degenerative with no current cure in sight so there is no getting around that one) but the operation would improve my quality of life a lot. So it became ironically a no-brainer to go for it. The only way out was through…… Once I’d come to that conclusion I could then begin to accumulate information about it as until then the information wouldn’t have been absorbed because of the anxiety getting in the way.

So this morning I had a pre-operation conversation with the Parkinson’s Nurse at Addenbrookes Hospital during which I was able to ask all the questions from my mind-map** and as a consequence have a lot more information about how the overall two days will go. As a result I now feel a lot less apprehensive about it; still a bit nervous but that’s to be expected (and forgiven).

So how do we apply this to our role of Business Analyst? I have not got all the answers to this but here are a few suggestions:

• At the start of the journey through change people may need emotional support. Some may not dream to ask for it but there’s no harm in offering is there?
• As the change journey continues there may well be a shift to the need for information and guidance so have some prepared and ready to go.
• Never discount people’s feelings
• Paint a positive picture wherever possible but don’t hide difficult facts
• don’t be afraid to apply all these principles to yourself
• allow time within your plan for these activities otherwise they will not get done

So, I might not be posting for a while but I’ll let you know how I get on!! I may well be part-man/part-machine by the time I next type something!***

*this may in fact be a misuse of imagination on my part

**OF COURSE I made a mind-map……

***So my typing may be a lot quicker :0)