Formerly while science was coming into existence, man-made theories and laws which were either derived from mathematical expressions or strong reasoning would hold true in almost all situations. Greek Mathematician Thales of Miletus formulated that a charge could be accumulated by rubbing fur on various substances and these objects attracted certain other objects as well. It was called positive and negative charges, based on mathematical symbols they were able to justify this attraction by taking instances of human behavior - "Opposite Attracts". This laid the foundation of Physics.

Calculus accurately describes the Human Psychology and shows comparable similarities between electronics and the Human Behavior. Broadly speaking, it is possible to classify all the Human Circuits into two types - Differential circuits and Integral Circuits.

It is possible to study the human behavior using calculus. In order to understand this, the "Human Circuit" needs to be fed some input and the behavior evaluated through the output generated. The input provided within the Human circuit is referred as "change". In terms of Calculus; a change in an organization is analogous to a square wave as the change is kept confidential until the last minute. Also, once decided to implement, it needs to be executed as fast as possible to the root level.

Response to change for Differential Human Circuits

Whenever a square wave is fed to a differential circuit it leads to hampering of the device as the slope of the wave are steep and have a sudden change in frequency. It also causes wear and tear of the device leading to the noise produced by its parts.

A Similar response can be seen for a change in an organization. The spreading of rumors is nothing but the noise produced by the Human Circuits.

When the square wave hits the differential circuit, the circuit exhibits a ‘sudden spurt’ or ‘spike’ with the voltage being increased exponentially. This high voltage is equivalent to ‘human tension’ or ‘human stress’. The higher the personality of the differential circuit, the higher is the stress and higher would be the tension. In mathematical terms, it is done using the differential on the change based on the delta and the information available. The mathematicians infer the information and start projecting it to infinity.

Characteristics of Differential People

The differential people will be the first to react to change, often finding the situation either too good or too bad. It often depends on the information available at that point in time. These are commonly the personalities which exhibit high energy to do various activities; they are also referred as multi-tasking people, plus panic creators. The organization needs to manage these people very well.

How to manage Differential People?

One of the key things to manage differential people is to minimize the information given to them or to provide information in smaller chunks with minimal possible impact. This helps to even out the differential impact of their behavior and helps the organization to execute change more effectively. This is similar to how differential circuits are handled to avoid overheating of electric circuits.

Response to change for Integral Human Circuits

On the contrary, it can also be observed some people are not reacting to any kind of change or at the least creating an impression of not reacting to change. These people can be included in the ‘Do not care’ or ‘go with the flow’ categories. People from this category take change as it comes and often are seen as balanced and calm from the outside.  Many try to understand the change, its impact and based on which try to take a balanced view on the matter. They are the ones who are applying an integral function of the square wave. This category has a less disruptive reactive to change and helps to support the change management.

Characteristics of Integral People

In mathematical terms, “uniting” or “aggregating” the changes slowly and breaking them into smaller chunks get absorbed easily. Mathematically, the integral is used to calculate the area under the curve. The higher the integer quotient of the person, the higher is the ability of the person to manage stress and often it means a higher span of control. The integrators provide a good balance to handle change efficiently in the organization and compliment the differential people.

How to manage Integral People?

If the variation exercise is done to make effortless changes, then there is no specific action needed here for integral people. They would iron out the communication effectively. However, if the organization really wants to jolt the people and make radical changes, then it becomes important to plan a strategy to pass it down to the integral people. The communication needs to be louder and more vocal so that it is evident to them. In electronic language, it needs to have ‘high voltage’ to have an impact.

Conclusion 

For a good change management exercise, organizations need to spend a considerable amount of time to identify the distribution of people in their organizations. They should also have an understanding of the blend of people that are present in the organization who can help to dissipate the change management and employ the shift more efficiently and effectively. A more customized built on the behavioral pattern of the respective organization is needed to help achieve the desired results.

The views expressed by the author are personal and do not represent the views of the company