University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Master of Change
Book

Master of Change

How to Excel When Everything Is Changing – Including You

Brad Stulberg
HarperOne, 2023
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8

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Recommendation

How do you respond to change? All too often, people respond poorly — trying to resist it or yearning for a return to the old status quo. In an age of nonstop evolution, you need a different strategy, author and coach Brad Stulberg argues. People must develop a “rugged flexibility” if they want to thrive in the face of change. Stulberg outlines how to build the ability to adapt to change in to your mindset, identity, and behavior. When you understand how to accept and manage change without being overwhelmed by it, he writes, you push yourself toward sustained excellence.

Summary

To thrive amid change, embrace “rugged flexibility.” 

Change is a constant. Be it war, recession, social upheaval, political unrest, environmental catastrophes, or the effects of emerging technologies, dramatic disruptions constantly afflict the world. On an individual level, “disorder events,” such as the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, marriage, promotion, getting divorced, serious illness, and so on, disrupt life intermittently. Research shows that people undergo an average of 36 disorder events during their adult lives — or roughly once every 18 months. So while many people view periods of change as exceptions to the rule, change is, in fact, the rule. 

People tend to respond to change in one of four ways: refusing to admit change is occurring; choosing to resist change; renouncing their agency; or trying to return to the pre-change status quo. These four responses stem from a misguided sense that life follows an X to Y to X pattern known as “homeostasis”; that is, when something occurs to disrupt the status quo, living systems do all they...

About the Author

Brad Stulberg coaches executives, athletes, and entrepreneurs on health, well-being, and sustainable excellence. He also wrote The Practice of Groundedness.

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