Even a small amount of control can reduce discomfort for an uncertain future. This is the case even when the control is illusory.

Remember that whatever choices are presented are still your choices.

E.g. Presenting two choices instead of one for the group to vote on, these two choices are still your own, yet they will be far more invested in the outcome.

You are the architect of their sense of control.

We naturally follow others, especially in unfamiliar situations. This is even more the case with an identifiable and / or aspirational group.

Consider building your change around this group first, and using them as a means to roll out changes more widely.

The role of leaders are particularly important to guide us through times of change.

Those either in control or more generally whom we look up to can provide reassuring guidance as to the path ahead in uncertain times.

Unfamiliar, hard-to-understand concepts will always trigger uncertainty.

Rewrite your change communications around ease, simplicity and relatability.

Doing so will make any message on a proposed change understandable, more agreeable and more likely to be spread internally, creating a positive chain reaction.

Giving people a low-risk taster is a great way to test out the new without fear.

Sometimes it's not change that scares us off, but the size of the change. Given a safe environment to first test out the new can help us feel more comfortable with bigger change down the road.

When we don’t know what to choose, we look for guidance.

Defaults offer a great, low-cost way to navigate the new. For times of change, ensure your Defaults are used to create a reassuring path forward instead of something aggressive that could trigger Reactance.

We can decrease discomfort for change by slowly exposing ourselves to it.

When designing change for others, it's better assume a lack of initial familiarity as your baseline.

Consider adding in opportunities for the participant to engage with or test out these new changes as exposure and therefore familiarity increases.

Change can be scary if we can't understand what it is or why it's happening. As change-makers, metaphors offer us a great opportunity to use peoples' existing knowledge to ground the change in something they're already familiar with.

This is especially the case for any large or confusing changes, such as using a new technology that changes processes or revolutionises products. Steve Jobs remarked in 1981 that "a computer is a bicycle for the mind".

In a new age of AI, cryptocurrency networks and digital abstraction, relatable metaphors have never been more important if you want to take people along for the ride.

How you communicate change is just as important as change itself. Dynamic Norms provide a powerful new tool to make the most of any progress made with your change strategy.

The crucial thing here is to emphasise the rate of relative instead of absolute change, in order to compel people to "join the growing movement". For example, absolute adoption may be low, say 5%, but relative adoption is doubling each month!

Reimagining change as a special invitation to try something new is a powerful way to get it started. People love being given something exclusive and scarce.

Start with those most open to change. A tech-friendly or risk-tolerant cohort or a group of highly passionate VIP customers, for example.

Handled well, this cohort will provide lubrication for the rest of your rollout with Social Proof, Status and a powerful new Dynamic Norm for exciting change ahead.

If we're more likely to take action when it's bundled with something pleasant, how might you use this as part of a change strategy.

"Look, there's a small amount of personal effort or retraining involved, but it will unlock [x], something that we've never been able to do before. It'll also mean you can do more [y] and free you entirely from doing [z]."

If we're compelled to complete unfinished tasks, getting people started  on a given change will help improve compliance.

Start by identifying the barriers that could stop people from taking initial action. E.g if time was scarce, then providing a pre-filled form with default choices and a single "click to confirm" button could help.

When it's not clear of the value of a proposed change, people won't take action to make it so.

Reminding people of the high-level reasons for the change, both for the organisation and for them as individuals will create that clarity. Going further, appeal to peoples' group identity, communicating how this change will allow the organisation to better compete with [competitor x] and become #1, for example.

Over time, Feedback Loops become a type of story, offering a narrative on progress made. For those subject to any change made, we often forget the value of communicating how this process is going.

If we can see the change taking place, and are informed as to its progress, we'll be much more likely to affect it somehow, by taking action or compelling others to do so.