Transformations, Transitions, Change

The numbers are damning. Read any competent report on organizational transformation and you'll find the odds of success are worse than a coin toss. Transformation, transition, and change are all events that raise the level of uncertainty we already carry through life. Whether change happens to us or we set it in motion ourselves, the result is the same: a heightened state of uncertainty. And it is precisely this uncertainty that makes transformation so hard. Many transitions are, in the end, for the better — and yet we move through them with a sizeable heaviness.

Emotions

When do we begin to feel? When do we start to experience emotions? Is it constant, or is it periodic? The truth is that it can be both — but the reason we experience emotions at all is universal: they arise when something in our environment triggers us. The emotion only comes after that trigger has set off an appraisal process within us, and that process moves through several stages. First, we gauge the stakes — what the potential outcome means for us. Then we scan for options, for our prospects of coping. Only at the end do we feel the emotion. But for the emotion to exist, there must first be a trigger. I study those triggers related to change, transformation, transition.

Culture

Emotions are socio-culturally conditioned. When Oprah gives away cars in the United States, the audience leaps to its feet, screaming — clearly, unmistakably, experiencing excitement, happiness, elation. Now picture the same moment in Norway. Or in Japan. Do you think the emotional experience would be the same?

It wouldn't. Culture — national, organizational — provides a meaning system for making sense of change, and different meaning systems give rise to different action tendencies. Understanding that, and managing it well, is what helps people move through change and transformation with the highest odds of success.

I am currently working on three articles mentioned below. I am always interested to connect with companies who might be curious about the topics on which I work and potentially be part of the research. I am also happy to connect with researchers-alike and potentially co-author. If any of that is the case, feel free to connect with me.

• Isakovski (2026). Behavioral framework of change adoption in organizations

• Isakovski (2027). Western Cultures, meaning-systems of emotions during change

• Isakovski (2027). Eastern Cultures, meaning-system of emotions during change