H.U.M.A.N. dimensions / N

Navigate the Human Side of Change

Explanation, employee input, operational support and adjustment as change unfolds.

Why it matters

Change asks people to absorb new work and let go of old routines. Leaders help by explaining why, inviting input, removing something when adding something and adjusting as they learn.

Ideas from research and leadership writing

• Change is the outside event; transition is the inner process people go through, including letting go before starting fresh.

  Idea summarized from William Bridges, Managing Transitions

• Courageous leaders acknowledge uncertainty and feelings rather than armoring up or pretending everything is fine.

  Idea summarized from Brené Brown, Dare to Lead

• A review of employee voice and silence summarizes when people speak up or hold back and what follows for them and their organization. It did not measure this framework.

  Idea summarized from Morrison, review

• An integrative review of organizational change separates ideas that are well supported, contested and still untested. It is not a test of the habits suggested here.

  Idea summarized from Stouten, Rousseau and De Cremer

• Seligman's PERMA model describes wellbeing through positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment. We use it as a reflection lens, not as evidence that a change approach will succeed.

  Idea summarized from Martin Seligman, PERMA model

Habits to try this week

Choose one habit suited to your responsibilities and authority. If you do not manage people, practice with peers, seek agreement or rehearse a fictional situation. Do not take on someone else's decision authority.

• If you lead the change, explain its purpose, what stays the same and what remains unknown. If you are affected by it, ask about its purpose before judging it.
• If you lead the change, invite concerns without penalty and listen before defending. If you are affected by it, raise a concern constructively, with a suggestion.
• Ask each affected person how the change is affecting them and what support would help.
• For every new demand, identify one task to pause, simplify or remove.
• Test one adjustment to pace or approach based on feedback; if that is outside your authority, adjust your own work and review the result.
• Acknowledge what people are losing, not only what they are gaining.

Reflection questions

• What are people being asked to absorb, and what has actually been removed or made easier?
• Who has not yet had a chance to shape this change?

A common pitfall

Announcing change and moving on. Support matters most in the weeks after the announcement.

How this connects to the other dimensions

N brings the other dimensions together during change: H clarifies commitments and invites concerns, U checks evidence and uncertainty, M protects capacity and provides support, and A prepares people through practice. Explain what can be influenced, what is fixed and when decisions will be reviewed.

References

• Bridges, W. (1991). Managing Transitions. Addison-Wesley.
• Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead. Random House.
• Morrison, E. W. (2023). Employee voice and silence: Taking stock a decade later. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior.
• Stouten, J., Rousseau, D. M., & De Cremer, D. (2018). Successful organizational change: Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. Academy of Management Annals.
• Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish. Free Press.

The sources reviewed for this dimension are listed on the research and methodology page, filtered to N.

These summaries paraphrase research and practitioner books, which provide different kinds of evidence. The habits are developmental applications, not findings that these exact actions improve outcomes. The authors have not reviewed or endorsed this framework, and the cited work does not establish its effectiveness. See research and methodology.

H.U.M.A.N. Advantage framework developed by Dr. Patrick D. Fagan, PhD, MBA.