Stuck: How to Win at Work by Understanding Loss

Our work life is changing. Every day new companies, technologies, and ideas emerge that impact how, where, and most importantly, why we work. Despite this exciting evolution, people remain the heart of change. People are tricky. People don’t seem to evolve as fast as global trends. People get Stuck. Teams have people moving at different speeds with different levels of adoption in our evolving workplace. Some evolve and some don’t. Teams get Stuck. Leaders, managers, and teammates struggle with this resistance and get frustrated. Frustrated people impact the performance of every organization. Organizations get Stuck.

Why? The answer is deeply human and biological, rooted in the way our brain interacts with everything in the world, even work. When people feel they are losing something, they react by getting Stuck. Stuck connects over 20 years of research on our brain’s reaction to the evolving workplace with real stories of people journeying through the challenge of being Stuck. The organizations, leaders, and managers who understand these concepts will evolve with the future. Those organizations will understand LOSS as a tool to achieve business WINs.

This book addresses a critical concept that closes a gap in other popular business publications. Many books tell leaders and managers the process of how to change their organizations. However, many of these books lack a key mechanism for understanding human interactions. The mechanism is a biological function developed through evolution called attachment – the human need to connect to different tangible and intangible objects for support. Attachment is the reason that people connect with leaders and corporate culture, but also what creates a deep sense of loss during even the smallest changes. Stuck offers a complete understanding of attachment and how it impacts individuals, relationships, and organizations.

The root of the challenge is the human need to connect to different tangible and intangible objects for support. The basis of the need for support is grounded in our need for attachment. Those who learn to understand loss through attachment behavior and the attachments of others will succeed. In addition, this book provides original data-based evidence from assessments conducted with nearly 20,000 respondents and original stories from the application of attachment concepts in more than 150 organizations across all sectors around the globe. It shines a light on attachment and use it as a lens to better understand our workplace.

Stuck is not an academic study. It is a practical guide for leading the brain through change. For the first time, the authors tell stories that demonstrate their research and offer a roadmap for how to leverage attachment research to drive business success.

Stuck provides not only the deep lessons from the authors’ research, but clear steps for readers to use the lessons of attachment in their own work. In this way, the book serves as a guide to those leaders, managers, and employees who are ready to be unStuck.

Dr. Victoria M Grady is the Academic Director of the MSM Graduate Program and Associate Professor of Management/Organizational Behavior in the School of Business at George Mason University. Victoria also recently joined Dixon Hughes Goodman (DHG) based out of Charlotte, NC as the Professor in Residence for their People and Change Practice. Victoria’s research portfolio focuses on the behavioral implications of organizations introducing and implementing organizational change―her unique emphasis is the role of Attachment Behavior and Transitional Objects within the change process. Victoria’s consulting practice includes work with United States Federal Government Agencies, Private and Public Healthcare Organizations in the United States and United Kingdom, Utility Organizations in Australia, K-12 and Higher Education Institutions, Nuclear Power Plants, and Non-Profit Associations.

Recent research publications can be found in Harvard Business Review, Washington Business Journal, Bloomberg News, GovExec.com, the Journal of Change Management, and The Public Manager. She is co-author of The Pivot Point: Success in Organizational Change, Morgan-James Publishing, 2013, co-author of Family Capitalism: Best Practices in Ownership and Leadership, Routledge (Gower) Publishing, 2017, and Attachment in the Workplace: Managing Beneath the Surface, Routledge Taylor Francis Publishing, 2020. To learn more, please visit her website at www.pivotpnt.com, follow her on Twitter at @pivotpnt or reach out via LinkedIN.

Patrick McCreesh, Ph.D. is the Managing Principal of Simatree, a Strategy, Analytics, and Technology consultancy. Patrick is a visionary in analytics and change management who passionately leads teams to build data-driven cultures. With 20 years of advisory experience, Patrick successfully leads teams through digital transformations and the development of analytics programs across the public sector and Fortune 500 clients.

Patrick serves as adjunct faculty at Georgetown University and George Mason University Business School. Previously, he published the book Workplace Attachment: Managing Beneath the Surface (Routledge, Taylor Francis 2019) and has publications featured in Bloomberg Government, the International Security Finance Monitor, and Public Manager. Patrick is also a leader in the global change management community through the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP). He founded and served as the President of ACMP DC before serving on the ACMP Global Board of Directors.

Patrick graduated from The University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Affairs and History, received his Master of Public Policy from Harvard University, and completed his Doctorate in Public Policy at George Mason University. He lives in Vienna, VA with his wife, Courtney, and four daughters – Lizzie, Rose, Bridget, and Ginger.