What is change? - An interview with psychologist Dr. Lana Ott

Looking for change

What does change mean?
"Change means transformation. We humans are constantly changing. Every challenge we face leads to personal change - consciously or unconsciously, intentionally or unintentionally, planned or unplanned.""It is important not to be simply "driven" by new influences and circumstances, but to initiate and accompany the process of change on our own responsibility. It is also crucial to be clear about the direction in which one wants to change, about the resources one has at one's disposal. Only in this way can people set a safe course to arrive exactly at the port where they want to go. Especially high stress in everyday work and the ever faster pace of life require us to be more mindful of our own "SELF" and to effectively manage the available resources for change."

How are changes triggered?
"Changes can be triggered internally or externally. In part, change processes occur because, for example, certain suggestions for improvement are initiated by superiors, or constantly changing demands of the market "force" people to change. On the other hand, an internal impulse for change can arise when people themselves feel unpleasant tensions internally. It is the case, for example, when one's own actions come into conflict with prevailing motives and needs. And all this means for man One: to make himself the object of conscious attention, to enter into dialogue with himself in order to set the targeted process of change in motion more quickly, to bring about "new" states confidently and to restore the new balance."

What skills do people need for change?
"It is important that people do not settle into a passive role of observing their own change, but rather take much more initiative and help shape the change process themselves. Self-leadership skills are becoming increasingly important in this context, because personal change also means self-development. And self-development is closely related to the ability to influence one's own psychological processes. This means setting your own goals (instead of adopting someone else's goals), activating willpower, and controlling motivational and emotional processes in a goal-oriented manner. The role of the body in the change process should not be underestimated. What good are all the great methods and techniques of self-influence if physical performance is switched to "stand by", if we have no strength and energy to put our own plans into action. Mental performance capacity springs from physical reserves.

Self-leadership as a personal competence requires self-transparency. This means knowing your own personality well with its strengths and limitations, questioning yourself again and again and controlling the change process more consciously. Of course, it is also possible to overdo it here. If people are constantly busy thinking, weighing, considering next steps, etc., many change processes would hardly make any progress. That's why it's worth finding a middle ground between the conscious and the unconscious. The latter is incredibly important; one should not intervene without justifiable cause in processes that also function and run satisfactorily on their own. Thus, an excess of conscious self-leadership can also prevent the process of change. So: it depends on the optimal dosing of conscious self-leadership."

How can the persolog® Personality Factor Model support people during changes?
"The persolog® Personality Factor Model is a very complex and at the same time very pragmatic tool. Its unique selling point of looking at and analyzing the behavior situationally can be used to develop concrete individual strategies and ways to change oneself. Sometimes people get under pressure in the change process or they show inner resistance to change. Here it can help to take a close look at one's own behavior in the difficult change process, to deal with inner, blocking beliefs and to find out the causes of inner conflicts. In this way, one can become aware of the dynamics between intentions, values and beliefs. All this as well as an appropriate adaptation of one's own behavior to the new circumstances with various techniques and methods can be best ensured with the personality model. People achieve more security in uncertain times of personal upheaval - security in their own willingness and ability to change, to want and be able to bring about the new and meaningful."

LanaOttoBlog Psychologist Dr. Lana Ott

Lana Ott holds a doctorate in business psychology,
is product developer of persolog GmbH and expert
for the persolog Personality Factor Model.