Train Before the Terrain Changes

One of my earliest multi-day hiking adventures taught me a lesson I have never forgotten.

My husband, Craig and I were walking the Milford Track in New Zealand. I had the boots, the pack, my walking poles, travelling companions and plenty of enthusiasm.

What I didn’t have was enough training. At the time, I suspect I thought enthusiasm would carry me through. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t.

An avalanche risk on Day 3 of the walk changed the plan. We had to come off the mountain via an emergency track. It was steep, hard and relentless. Every step reminded me of what I had not done before the walk began. While no one was hurt, it wasn’t fun.

The experience stayed with me because it revealed something obvious, and yet easily ignored. You don’t become ready for challenging terrain by standing at the start line and hoping for the best. You get ready by preparing ahead of time, before the conditions change.

It is the same with change at work.

Leaders and teams often talk about change as though readiness appears on demand. The restructure is announced. The new system goes live. The strategy shifts. The market changes. The role expands. The reporting line moves.

The expectation is that people will adapt because they have to. And sure, sometimes they do, but often they don’t. Not because they are weak, resistant or difficult, but because they are underprepared.

Change readiness is a practical capability

Research by Professor Bryan Weiner on organisational readiness for change shows that readiness depends on two shared beliefs: change commitment, which is the extent to which people are willing and resolved to implement the change, and change efficacy, which is the extent to which they believe they have the collective capability to do so¹.

In simple terms, they need to believe that the change matters and that they have the capability, resources, and support to act on it.

You can be highly committed to a change and still feel overwhelmed by it. You can understand the logic and still lack the energy, confidence or skill to move well through it. You can agree with the destination and still struggle with the terrain.

That’s why preparation matters.

When you train for a hike, a marathon or any demanding physical event, you don’t only build strength; you build confidence because you test and learn. For example, you test your gear, learn where you struggle, discover what helps you keep going when the weather turns, the track changes or the climb feels longer than expected.

The same is true of organisational change.

Getting match-fit for change means deliberately building the capacity to stay steady, think clearly, learn quickly, and act constructively when conditions shift.

It does not mean pretending that change is easy, pushing through exhaustion, or becoming endlessly resilient so the system, your boss, colleagues, and team members can keep asking more of you.

It means taking an honest look at what the change will demand and preparing yourself before the pressure peaks.

Start with your current capacity

Change takes energy. It asks you to make decisions with incomplete information, let go of familiar routines, build new habits, manage emotion and often support others while you are still finding your own footing.

That’s hard to do when you’re already depleted. So, before you focus on the change itself, identify your current bandwidth for change.

Before you step into any significant change, take stock and ask yourself:

• How are you physically, mentally and emotionally?
• Are you rested enough to think well?
• Are you carrying too much accumulated fatigue?
• Are you already operating at the edge of your capacity?

These questions are strategic because a tired brain narrows its field of view. It becomes more reactive, more threat-sensitive and more likely to default to old habits.

You want to restore yourself before the change intensifies, so you have the capacity to adapt.

Build your tolerance for uncertainty

Once you have restored your reserves, the next step is to strengthen your capacity to sit with uncertainty.

Change is rarely neat. The old way no longer fully works, and the new way is not yet clear. Roles blur. Decisions shift. People interpret messages differently. Information is incomplete, and clarity often arrives later than you would like.

This is where people can become anxious, frustrated or cynical.

The goal is not to remove ambiguity. It is to get better at operating within it.

Research by Professor Peter O’Connor and colleagues found that the ability to navigate ambiguity is associated with positive mood, adaptive performance and project progress². Importantly, their research also shows that ambiguity tolerance is not fixed. It can shift depending on factors such as emotional control, problem-focused coping, creativity and supportive leadership.

That means you can train for uncertainty.

Start by creating structure where you can. With your team, make time to name what is known, what is unknown and what is still emerging. Resist the urge to fill every gap with assumptions. Ask better questions. Create space to think together.

Then, focus on the next useful step, individually and collectively, rather than waiting for perfect clarity.

Build the skills before you need them

Change often exposes skill gaps at the exact moment people have the least time, energy or headspace to address them.

That is why learning needs to be part of your preparation, not an afterthought.

If you can see change on the horizon, ask yourself: What will this require of me? Stronger stakeholder management? Greater digital capability? More disciplined prioritisation? Better conflict skills? A different leadership rhythm?

It also means reflecting on the kind of leader you need to be, because your leadership style shapes how well your team moves through change, and the qualities that make that possible are worth developing before the pressure hits

Start building those capabilities early, before the pressure peaks.

This also means looking for where you have agency.

When roles, priorities or expectations shift, you may have more room to shape how you work than you first realise.

Research by Professors Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton on job crafting shows that people can proactively adjust aspects of their work to better align with their strengths, values and changing demands³. More recent research by Professor Justin Berg and colleagues also suggests people are more likely to improve their work experience when they see both themselves and their job as capable of change⁴.

Remember, you are not only adapting to change; you are also shaping how you move through it.

Create your change training plan

You cannot perfectly prepare for change. There will always be variables you cannot predict, decisions you cannot control and moments that test your confidence.

The goal is not perfect preparation, but deliberate preparation.

So, before your next significant change, ask yourself:

• What terrain am I about to enter?
• What will this change demand of my energy, attention and relationships?
• Where am I underprepared?
• What skills or habits do I need to strengthen?
• Who do I need to stay connected with?
• What will help me stay steady when the plan changes?

The next step is to build your training plan. Your plan can include the following:

• Ways to restore your reserves, so you are not entering the change already depleted. This may mean protecting recovery time, managing your energy more deliberately, reducing unnecessary load or creating better boundaries around your attention.
• How to clarify what matters, so you have an anchor when things feel uncertain. Get clear on the purpose of the change, what you are trying to protect, what you may need to let go of and what outcomes matter most.
• Practising small acts of flexibility, so adaptability becomes a habit rather than a last-minute reaction. This could mean testing a new routine, experimenting with a different way of working, seeking feedback earlier, or deliberately taking a different perspective before making a decision.
• Strengthening the skills you need now and into the future, so you build capability before the pressure peaks. Identify the skills the change will demand, such as stakeholder management, prioritisation, digital capability, commercial acumen, conflict resolution or a different leadership rhythm.
• Having the important conversations early and often, so concerns, assumptions and expectations are surfaced before they become problems. Talk with the people who matter. Ask what they need, what they are noticing and where there may be confusion, tension or misalignment.
• Creating regular reflection points, so you can keep learning as the change unfolds. Notice what is working, what is not and what needs to shift. Reflection helps you adjust your approach rather than simply push harder.

Taking deliberate action is how you get match fit for change. Not by waiting for change to arrive and hoping your instincts or past experience will carry you, but by preparing yourself to meet the terrain with more confidence, wisdom and capacity to act.

The Milford Track taught me that the mountain does not care how enthusiastic you are. Workplace change is much the same.

Good intentions help. Positive thinking has its place. But preparation is the game-changer because it changes the experience.

So the next time you see change on the horizon, do not just ask, “How will I cope?”

Ask the more useful question: “What training do I need now, so I am ready to step ahead and step up when the terrain changes?”

Getting you ready for tomorrow, today®

Award-winning author and global workplace expert, Dr Michelle Gibbings, helps leaders, teams and organisations unlock strategic influence to accelerate progress.

References

1. Weiner, B. J. (2009). A theory of organizational readiness for change. Implementation Science, 4, Article 67. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-4-67
2. O’Connor, P. J., Wiewiora, A. W., & Spark, A. (2025). State tolerance of ambiguity drives performance and well-being outcomes within project managers: Evidence from a five-wave longitudinal study. Project Management Journal, 56(2), 182–197. https://doi.org/10.1177/87569728241299290
3. Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 179–201. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2001.4378011
4. Berg, J. M., Wrzesniewski, A., Grant, A. M., Kurkoski, J., & Welle, B. (2023). Getting unstuck: The effects of growth mindsets about the self and job on happiness at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(1), 152–166. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001021