Here are ten reasons why you should not be phased by "resistance" to change. Reason number 10 is the most important.
- You get a chance to find out what people really think, and then can address it. It gives you the chance to improve your change implementation.
- Those people who seem to be putting up the strongest resistance are thought leaders and can have a positive impact on many others when they are handled effectively. They can really turn the momentum of a project.
- If you are experiencing resistance to change it means that your project is having an effect, it is a sign that things are starting to happen.
- It gives you the opportunity to find out if it’s a sign of an entrenched pattern or an initial response to something. After having the opportunity for a vent or offload of their initial reactions, people’s views can change.
- What people are doing and how they are responding to the change makes sense to them. There is a perspective from which it makes sense for them to act in ways that may look like resistance. Resistance situations give you the opportunity to broaden your own perspective, to find a way of connecting with someone with a perspective quite different from your own. The ability to do this is key to successful change and is useful in many other areas of life. In other words it is well worth practising and mastering.
- It develops your leadership, your range of ways to respond to situations that arise, the people involved and the kind of issues that can trigger tricky situations. While it can be tough at the time, it will improve your ability to deal with a similar situation next time.
- It gives you another chance to engage with people.
- It is a chance to practice withholding judgement.
- It is a real feather in your cap if you can deal with it effectively. Most people cannot.
- When you identify what looks like resistance this indicates a real issue, a high priority area to focus your attention to really gain momentum for your change initiative. Don’t try to gloss over it or paste over with positive messages. Instead try to understand the concerns in depth. Don’t worry that you are dwelling on the negative. The negative will transform through your process of listening. The process of doing this will communicate to people that you are really listening. And you will then be able to address the real issues that are blocking the implementation of your change.
Excellent comments Stephen – it’s refreshing to consider the perspective that some resistance to change is healthy. It is more often portrayed that if you can’t accept change at face value then you aren’t a “team player” ! I would add the comment that identifying resistance to change (perhaps through a sample group) early on can pre-empt the resistance that you will get on a grand scale when you roll it out across the organisation. Showing that you will listen to and consider people’s opinions (particularly those affected by the change) and are prepared to flex your approach accordingly will certainly generate more buy-in to the change
Comment by Martin Coates — August 30, 2008 @ 6:18 am
Thanks Martin for your comment.
I agree with you that people can easily be characterised as ‘not a team player’ in voicing questions about the implications of plans for change that are presented to them. In fact the presentations are often designed as a series of positive statements from the leader and project team and questions and answers in large forums where it is threatening to speak up. The resulting silence and absence of negative comments is seen as a success for those implementing the change.
It is only later when the new system is actually switched on that the problems become apparent.
Cheers, Stephen
Comment by Stephen — September 14, 2008 @ 12:02 am