Natural Human Instinct or Behaviour (9)

Introduction
An instinct has been described as
"...that part of our behaviour that is not learnt..."
Robert Winston as quoted by Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
To understand the human response to change, we need to understand our natural behaviours.
"...we need to understand the human condition that both explains the behaviours and provides solutions..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
For example, we make sense of the world by classifying, ie ideas (good or bad), people (friend or foe), etc; these are binary alternatives; classifying helps us make sense of the change and the world.
If you cannot immediately classify the instincts, loss aversion kicks in, ie we are more motivated by losing something and this drives the default negative response. Even though it resembles resistance, it is different. Need to understand the human response in order to effectively deal with the reaction.
In addition to the need to classify and handle loss aversion, chitchat or gossip (including rumour) is important. 
You are born with a package of universal human behaviours, ie how our brains process information, how we make sense of the world, how we respond to these, etc that have emerged from our ancestral background.
Understanding human nature can help predict behaviours, ie reaction to change.
Most species have a single attribute which has contributed to their survival, ie for elephants it is size; for humans, it has been our large brain that has allowed us to live in large complex groups that had many benefits, like food sharing, idea generation, shelter, protection, etc. There has also been a good deal of social complexity, ie who talks to whom, etc. Furthermore, our large brain has given us verbal capabilities that tend to distinguish us from other species.
"...a key way we use language turns out to be critically linked to our life a social beings..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
Reading body language, especially facial expressions, etc is an important part of natural human instinct.
(for more detail, see elsewhere in the Knowledge Base)
However, many of the human instincts are shared with other animals, like chimpanzees:
"...they have many of the attributes that used to be considered uniquely human - such as using and making tools, intellectually solving problems, expressing emotions such as anger, sadness, happiness, despair, etc. This should not surprise us since we differ, in a structure of DNA, by only just over 1%. Indeed, we are part of, and not separated from, the rest of the animal kingdom. Yet we are different in one way - the explosive development of the human intellect......an understanding of the complex ways in which chimpanzees maintain social harmony with their community can provide valuable insights for dealing with tension in a group of humans......an understanding of the social skills required by (in their case, male) chimpanzees to become successful alphas, will help humans to become better leaders..."
Jane Goodall as quoted by Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
Furthermore, of our several hundred thousands of years of human existence, it is only in the last 250 years (in the industrialised, western world) that we have left our hunting, gathering and village societies to work in offices and factories. Thus
"...behaviours that ensured our survival on the savannah plains of Africa over the millennia is alive and well in the corridors, meeting rooms and offices in today's organisations.....generations of early humanoids have been a key force  in shaping what it means to be human......while our habitat might have changed 250 years ago - it is equivalent to a nanosecond in the evolutionary clock - our hardwired behaviour, the way we process information and the way the brain works, has not..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
Safe environment
One of the important elements of effective change is creating a safe environment:
"...People explore and are curious about the world around them, when they feel safe......establish an environment where people feel safe and secure. Humans do amazing things and deliver beyond expectations when they feel confident, and much of that confidence comes from a feeling of being held in high regard by their leader and within their intimate social group..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
A safe environment involves
- physical and mental safety (people are not in harm's way)
- context of the team's direction and performance (including standards of expected behaviour)
- clarity about what is expected from each person (linking personal goals with organisational/team goals)
- management behaviour needs to be consistent (so that people don't have to guess what mood they are in and how they will decide things.)
Common behaviours in an organisation:
"...- There's a lot of silo behaviour and internal competition
     - Change is difficult to manage and is often resisted or derailed
     - The informal gossip grapevine is incredibly effective and generally faster and regarded as more reliable than the formal channels
     - Our performance appraisal system doesn't deliver what it should......
     - Managers find it hard to give negative feedback and often procrastinate on managing poor performers..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
There are 9 natural human instinct:
1. Emotions before reason
2. First impressions dominate classification
3. Loss aversion
4. Gossip
5. Social belonging
6. Hierarchy and status
7. Empathy and mind reading
8. Confidence before realism
9. Contest and display.
NB If we are aware of our natural inclinations, then we can make alternative choices.