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RESISTANCE: A Label to Blame

Acceptance, Change Strategies, Leadership, Mindsets & Behavior, ResistanceComments Off

Nobody likes to be thought of as ‘resistor’ or a ‘roadblock’ or a ‘barrier.’ None of those labels are positive or flattering! Besides, ‘resistance’ connotes a battle between right and wrong, good vs. bad. Not a good picture!

And more often than not, ‘resistance’ is only a symptom of fear, confusion, mistrust, lack of information, misunderstandings, unanswered questions, no visible need for change, an unclear end goal, etc. most of which are fully under the control of the person leading the change. From this perspective, labeling others as ‘resistors’ is to blame them for our inability to lead and to influence effectively.

Effective leaders provide evidence for people to accept the change. What is that evidence? Below is a short list of some critical pieces of evidence that will go a long way to develop ‘acceptance’ rather than rejection.

Others Have Failed, But You Don’t Have To!

Acceptance, Change Strategies, Organizational Change, Resistance, Stakeholder, TrainingComments Off

Consider this…

  1. Change is constant
  2. The pace of change will increase
  3. Most change initiatives in organizations fail

For decades now, studies have shown that as many as 85% of all change initiatives fail. This is true in new technology implementation, organizational restructuring, mergers, business transformations, outsourcing, process improvement programs, or other types of change. Why?

Why a Get-down-to-Business Approach Isn’t’ Enough?

Change Strategies, Communication, Employee Engagement, Group Effectiveness, Leadership, Mindsets & BehaviorComments Off

Have you seen this…

A chief executive flies in to have a skip-level meeting with the troops. Naturally he wants them to feel free to open up to him and share things that would help him be a better leader. The time is limited, and of course in addition to ‘hearing them out’ he also has a handful of slides he wants to share with them – his vision, the strategy, the top priorities, and how employees can contribute. All good information, all well-intended. So, looking at the clock, he gets down to business! After he leaves, comes the meeting-after-the-meeting with your colleagues and you realize that nobody felt totally comfortable speaking their minds with the boss.

Experiencing Change? Bon Voyage

Acceptance, Change Strategies, Employee Involvement, Organizational ChangeComments Off

One of our trips along the East Coast states.

We enjoy traveling as a family and have driven thousands of miles from Michigan through much of the United States and as far as Acapulco, Mexico! While traveling long distances isn’t easy or always pleasant, in the end every journey is an adventure we all enjoy and remember with fondness. Our children have become accustomed to long road trips and look forward to each new adventure. Everyone helps with the planning and preparation. We all accept the fact that we will be driving for a long time in a car with some inconvenience but that the expected outcome offsets the hassles common to long road trips (which are many!).

But for a long journey to be successful and enjoyable, we have to have 1) a good reason to travel, 2) a destination everyone wants to go to, and 3) a good plan to get there.

Five Factors of Mindset & Behavior Change

Change Strategies, Culture Change, Mindsets & Behavior, Organizational Change2 Comments

Mindsets & Behaviors

This is the third post in the series “5 Reasons Why a Change Management Strategy Matters“

Meaningful and sustainable organizational change requires a fundamental shift in the way people see things and feel about them which leads to new behavior. The new behavior must be based on individual conviction and choice, not fear or compliance.

Some key factors of behavior change include:

The Soft Stuff is Really the Hard Stuff! Really!!

Change Strategies, Culture Change, Employee Involvement, Organizational Change, Resistance, StakeholderComments Off

This is the second post of the series “5 Reasons Why a Change Management Strategy Matters“

Have you ever tried pushing noodles with chopsticks? I’ve heard organizational change described as just that, pushing noodles with chopsticks…frustrating! Why? Because it’s hard!

To illustrate…I had three separate conversations recently with colleagues who described this phenomenon. In one case, the company wants more collaboration among highly skilled and highly paid professionals who are not used to working like this, and are not welcoming the change. In another case, the board of directors is not seeing what’s crystal clear to the chairman, and therefore, not going in the direction the chairman believes they should go. In yet another case, the business is in need of some clearly needed and logical improvements, but the politics involved have stalled any progress forward. In every case, they are confronting the same ‘soft’ issues. All workable stuff, all soft stuff. All hard to deal with.

Change Is Personal!

Change Strategies2 Comments
This is the first post of the series “5 Reasons Why a Change Management Strategy Matters“

Let’s face it! Change is personal. Yet, we often hear that we should divorce emotions from business. It sounds something like this… “Leave the personal stuff at the door” or “Leave the emotion out of it” or “Let’s focus on the facts, not the individual” or some other statement like that.

But people are not machines. Research has shown that unlike Descartes suggested, emotion does drive behavior and decisions (A. Damasio, A. Bechara, L. Sayegh). This is evident in financial market fluctuations. Markets don’t react. People (investors, traders, etc.) react. People make emotional and irrationally decisions. Most of our purchases are biased by our emotions (ask a professional sales person!).

5 Reasons Why a Change Management Strategy Matters

Change Strategies, Mindsets & Behavior, Organizational ChangeComments Off

Recently I responded to a LinkedIn discussion asking “how important is a change management strategy to the success of an improvement program?” I wanted to re-phrase the question and expound on my answer.

First of all, no strategy, as good as it might be, will ever deliver any value unless it is well implemented and executed. Assuming that this is the case, here are my top 5 reasons why a change management strategy matters in any type of organizational change:

What’s Wrong with Stakeholder Analysis?

Change Strategies, Organizational Change, Resistance, StakeholderComments Off

Recent work with a client reminded me of something I wanted to share with others. Many years ago when I started giving change management seminars, I noticed a pattern that I did not like. When we covered the concept of stakeholder analysis, inevitably someone (usually more than one) would express concern, even fear about using this most commonly used tool. Their concerns?

  • What if someone sees the document?
  • What if so and so found out we labeled them as “not supportive”?
  • How do we even know for sure they aren’t supportive?
  • Why would you NOT want anyone to be ‘strongly supportive’ anyway?

‘People Resist Change’ …Really? Maybe Not

Acceptance, Change Strategies, Employee Involvement, ResistanceComments Off

That people naturally resist change is a common held view and one we hear all the time!

But one that does not explain why people adopt new technology faster than never before. Just think about all the madness around the iPhone 5, which was much ado about nothing after all! Still, according to technology news outlets, about half of ALL cell phone users are planning to upgrade to the new iPhone 5 (when it finally comes out). Die hards of all types of technology campout outside stores before opening day to be the first to get the coveted new toy! OK, so, that’s not everyone. But does that look like people resist change? No, I don’t think so.

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