5.4 Resistance to change

We have all experienced resistance to change. We will have been a resistor ourselves - and felt justified in being so. We will also have seen others resist our ideas or suggestions for doing things differently.

Reflection

Think about a time when you were resistant to a change proposed by someone else.

• What were you thinking?
• What were you feeling?
• What did you do?

You can use the Stepping Into Leadership Course Workbook to record your thoughts.

The nature of the resistance will depend on many factors - the nature and scale of the change; how far it will impact on our usual ways of doing things, including how it might affect our personal life (change of workplace location, timetables, terms and conditions etc.); how it fits, or doesn't, with our personal and professional values.

Rosabeth Moss-Kanter, a prominent thinker on leadership and change has identified Ten Reasons People Resist Change.

An alternative list is given by Torben Rick in his Top 12 Reasons Why People Resist Change

All very well, you might say, but what do we do about it?! We can't expect a simple answer to that question. Just as there will be multiple reasons for the resistance there will need to be a range of tactics to deal with them.

Torben Rick suggests op 14 Key Elements in Reducing Resistance to Change

One of the most important, and positive things that a leader needs to do in a time of change is to TELL THE STORY. This begins with the WHY - that thing again!

The "why we are looking to change" story can have a number of chapters:

• The context - the changing environment
• The aims, the hopes, the aspirations
• What the future might look like
• The past isn't wrong - it's just not right for tomorrow
• The benefits - why it's worth doing

Just as with any story, you need to think about your audience and tell the narrative in a way that they can understand.

There is a danger in thinking that telling the story at the start of the change process is all that is needed. When we encounter resistance it is tempting to think "but I've already told you why we need to do this". One version of the story and one telling of it is not enough. Like traditional tales the story of the change needs continuous telling, emphasising different aspects and using new examples to connect it to where people are in the change process (thinking about where they might be on the Kübler-Ross cycle).

Continue the course with: 5.5 McKinsey on change management