Flipping Switches: How SCARF Can Support Teams Through Unending Uncertainty
By: Tim Cynova // Published: February 5, 2025
When was the last time a change in your workplace flipped your flight, fight, or freeze switches? Maybe it was a new policy that upended your routine. Maybe a beloved leader unexpectedly left and suddenly the company felt, well, different. Maybe the work—or the organization itself—shifted in a way you didn’t expect.
If you’ve ever thought, “This isn’t what I signed up for,” you’re not alone.
Most of us don’t have formal employment contracts spelling out every aspect of our job. But we do operate under an unwritten contract—an understanding between employer and employee about what the work will be, how it will get done, and what we get in return. That contract works… until it doesn’t.
And when the deal we thought we made changes, it can flip psychological switches in our brains, resulting in the very real reactions that the SCARF framework helps us understand.
Why Workplace Change Feels Personal
Change isn’t just about the thing that’s changing. It’s about how people experience that change. And workplace changes don’t happen in a vacuum. They’re layered on top and in the mix of everything employees believe they signed up for. The result? A perfect storm of fight-flight-freeze responses.
In 2008, the neuroscientist David Rock first introduced his SCARF framework. The framework explains how five key social drivers—Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness—affect our brain’s response to change, shaping engagement, motivation, and decision-making in the workplace. With it, Rock offered a roadmap for unpacking the emotional undercurrents of change so we can understand and better address the root cause, not just the symptoms.
Right now, SCARF isn’t just a helpful tool for change management—it can be a survival kit for navigating this moment in history.
Status
“I worked for this. Now it’s gone? Who am I in this new reality?”
The pandemic reshuffled workplace hierarchies and roles in ways we’re still untangling. Some workers gained new visibility and opportunities. Others found their status diminished. Many people found their role turn into a spaghetti bowl of overlapping duties and responsibilities.
In just the last few weeks, a whole host of new policies are shifting long-standing employment practices and ways of operating leaving workers and businesses alike wondering:
“If my organization eliminates its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, what does that mean for my identity here? Does this organization still see me?”
“I’ve spent years moving up in this company, and now my role is being restructured? Will my work still matter in this new landscape?”
“I was part of key decision making. Now, after this reorg, I’m just… not?”
For many, these aren’t just policy changes. They’re existential ones. When people perceive a loss of status, they can feel devalued, like the organization changed the game without acknowledging their contributions or even without acknowledging that it changed the game.
Certainty
“What’s next? No, seriously—what’s next?”
If there’s one thing people crave after years of uncertainty, it’s stability. And yet, businesses are now navigating new compliance questions, a shifting economy, and culture clashes. Many of us are left to wonder:
“Are we still obligated to do what we’ve always done? What happens if we don’t?”
“If half the company wants to be in the office and half never wants to return, who “wins” that fight?”
“Are layoffs coming? Is our business model still viable?”
“We used to have a clear(er) promotion pathway, but now everything feels up in the air.”
Many workers are still processing the pandemic’s upheaval, and now they’re facing another round of uncertainty. It’s exhausting. When certainty disappears, anxiety skyrockets. And, even if the change is ultimately beneficial, the ambiguity itself can be destabilizing.
Autonomy
“I had no say in this. Why wasn’t I consulted?”
One of the biggest lessons of the pandemic? People want a say in how they work. Many people were able to experience an alternative to pre-pandemic ways of working. They had flexibility over their schedules, their work locations, their health and safety—and most simply don’t want to give that up.
Now, as companies make sweeping decisions about workplace policies, legal compliance, and organizational priorities, people are feeling left out of the conversation:
“Our company built an entire hybrid work culture—and now we’re just rolling things back to 2019?”
“We built diversity, equity, and inclusion values into everything we do. Now we’re just dropping it?”
“I finally found a way of working that felt sustainable and healthy—and now I’m being told it’s back to ‘normal’?”
“I built my career under one set of legal and workplace norms and practices. Now those are being rewritten—and I have no say in how that affects me.”
Even if leaders think they’re making rational, business-driven decisions, when people feel like decisions are happening to them instead of with them, the Autonomy switch flips. When employees feel powerless in the face of change, engagement can plummet. And even if people technically were able to provide input, if they don’t feel heard, the autonomy switch can flip.
Relatedness
“My team isn’t my team anymore. The coffee place closed. This doesn’t feel like the same place anymore.”
The past few years have tested workplace relationships in ways most never could have anticipated. Entire teams formed, dissolved, and reformed. Colleagues have left. New ones have arrived. (A recent article asked the question, “If I never met my colleagues in 3D did I ever really work there?”
Now, with another wave of legal, structural, and cultural shifts, people are realizing:
“The people I built deep relationships with during the pandemic are leaving—or being let go.”
“My company is deprioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion values work, which makes me wonder if I still belong here.”
“We finally figured out how to collaborate remotely. Now we’re being forced back to an in-office model that no longer works for the systems and structures we built over the last five years.”
“I joined this organization because I wanted to work with Jamie. Jamie just left. Do I still want to be here?”
“I used to sit with the same colleagues every day. Now, with all these changes, I feel disconnected.”
The workplace isn’t just about tasks and policies, right? It’s about the people who come together to achieve goals they couldn’t otherwise by themselves. When relationships are disrupted, the workplace feels unfamiliar. And, for some, this can break the connection they feel to the place and work.
Fairness
“This doesn’t feel right. It feels like a step backward.”
Few things prompt workplace unrest like the perception of unfairness.
“Some employees get to work remotely, but I’m being forced into the office five days a week? How is that fair?”
“Our leadership said they were committed to equity—but now they’re erasing every mention of those commitments?”
“Other teams got a say in this decision. Why didn’t we?”
A big challenge here? With fairness, one’s perception of what’s fair can be their reality. Even if leaders believe they’re making fair decisions, if employees perceive otherwise, if employees feel like the deal they signed up for has changed in a way that benefits some but not others, resentment can quickly build.
Why This Moment Feels Extra Hard
Workplaces are always evolving. For those of us committed to designing values-centered workplaces, massive forces are colliding to make this moment a compounding challenge:
The SCARF switches we still haven’t “unflipped.” The pandemic upended nearly every part of work and life. Employees are still grieving the loss of stability, routine, workplace norms (and the nearby coffee spot) they relied on. Many workplaces expect people to just adjust without acknowledging what’s been lost. To make things more challenging, most workplaces lack a structure to even discuss grief of any kind.
The SCARF switches are being flipped right now. Just as people were starting to regain a sense of stability, the ground is shifting again with sweeping policy shifts sliding nearly every sector towards more uncertainty. The rules of work are changing, again.
For many, it feels like the unwritten contract people signed up for has been rewritten—multiple times. They didn’t get to negotiate the terms. They’re just expected to adjust.
What Are We To Do?
If you’re a thriving workplace practitioner leading teams through this moment, here’s what can help:
Acknowledge the grief and acknowledge that the contract has changed. If people are struggling, it’s not just because they “don’t like change.” It’s because they’ve been living in continuous change with no space to process. Employees feel frustrated when leaders act like nothing is different. Say the quiet part out loud: “We know this is a shift from what you/we originally envisioned.” Maybe even add “...and none of us can be certain when it will stop shifting.”
Create space for processing and conversation. People need time to grieve what’s changed, even if they’re not leaving. Ask:
What originally excited you about this job?
What feels different now?
How have your expectations shifted?
What can you do right now to move towards what you really want?
Communicate early and often. Transparency, clarity, and frequent updates can help counteract uncertainty and unfairness. Uncertainty can be more stressful than bad news. Even if you don’t have all the answers, you can say: “Here’s what we know, here’s what we don’t, here’s what we’re working on, and here’s how those decisions will be made.”
Design in agency where possible. Even seemingly small choices—how meetings happen, how feedback is gathered—can help restore a sense of autonomy. Even if the change itself is non-negotiable, those seemingly small choices (the how, when, and in what order things roll out), help people regain a sense of control. (I once read a study that found people are more or less the same level of “happy” with a decision if they have 10% involvement in it or 2%. Both are roughly 70% happy with a decision. Even in resource constrained situations, at least look for how to include a 2% approach.)
Prioritize relationships. The structure of work may be shifting, but who we work with is still the foundation of belonging. Invest in connection, team-building, and opportunities for genuine dialogue.
The SCARF framework isn’t just a tool for understanding change—it’s a roadmap for designing workplaces that help people thrive, even in uncertainty.
Right now, thriving workplace practitioners are facing one of their biggest challenges yet: leading teams through a landscape where the SCARF switches never seem to stop flipping. But with awareness, intentionality, and care, we can create workplaces where people don’t just survive the change—they shape it, own it, and grow from it.
The Future of the Workplace Contract
Every workplace evolves. The question is: Are we designing change in a way that centers care and honors the people experiencing it? SCARF offers us a framework for understanding why change can feel like betrayal, even when it’s not intended that way. The unwritten contract reminds us that people join (and stay with) organizations based on an expectation of what work should be.
If we want to successfully ride the waves of change, we have to address the expectations, identities, and relationships that come with change. Because if employees keep asking “Who changed the game?”—and they don’t like the answer—you won’t just be managing change. You’ll be managing attrition or maybe even more challenging, an actively disengaged team.
Change isn’t going away. The SCARF switches will keep flipping, policies will shift, and workplace expectations will evolve. The best workplaces don’t ignore the discomfort of change—they name it, acknowledge its impact, and design agency into the process, even in small ways.
The workplace contract has already changed. The real question is will we co-create what comes next? People don’t just want to know what’s changing—they want to know where they fit, how they can contribute, how they can be a part of deciding the future, and whether they still belong. Get that right, and you won’t just navigate change—you’ll create a workplace where people can thrive, even when the ground keeps shifting.
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