As I work with different leaders and organizations a common complaint I hear is how much people resist change. Do you experience the same? If you are trying to change something in your organization, and are having a hard time, this post is especially for you.
Resistance is composed mostly of ambivalence. Once you are totally committed to the change, there is no resistance. The most common reasons for feelings of ambivalence are: negativity, lack of inclusion, and confusion. If you work on reducing the reasons for ambivalence, you will not have to worry about resistance. If you ignore these obstacles, there will be more resistance to change.
Today, I want to raise your awareness about how dangerous these 3 obstacles are. In the next three posts I will explain in more detail how to conquer each one.
First obstacle to change: Negativity
The degree of difficulty with change is directly proportional to the amount of negativity present. Since emotions tend to be viral, negativity is contagious and can defeat the best engineered plan for change
Emotions are the main key to the success or failure of any change effort. We all like to think our rational mind is where we decides for or against change. The reality is that from infancy, we tend to pair change with stress, negative emotions, pain, discomfort, and loss. As a result, when the words CHANGE is mentioned, our rational mind goes on vacation. Therefore, lowering negativity and promoting positive attitudes and feelings is vital for successful change.
Some of the most common negative psychological and emotional attitudes toward change are: Fear of the unknown; low tolerance for change; dislike of management or other change agent; lack of trust in others; need for security; and desire for the status quo.
Second obstacle to change: Exclusion
Most of the people that become resistant to change are people that have been excluded from the planning process. Think about a time when you were told to implement a change you had no say in designing. How did you feel? It is harder to ask for cooperation in implementing a change that people have not contributed to shape. That is one of the reasons mergers are so difficult.
Of course, it’s impossible to include all the realities that individuals hold in any given change effort. But if at least you hear them out, and use dialogue and negotiation as means of influence, it will be easier to shape a new reality.
Third obstacle to change: Confusion
One of the main killers of change is confusion. A confused mind does nothing. Yet, many change efforts are plagued by lack of clarity. For example, “we need to change to a culture based on positive customer service” is too nebulous. You need to be crystal clear about what does that mean and how you are going to address it.
The clearer everybody is about why is the change needed, what is going to change and when, how is it going to affect them, and how is the change going to be implemented, the less resistance you will encounter.
This is one of the reasons why inclusion helps. More brains thinking together will help bring more clarity to every step of the proposed change.
Conquering the obstacles
Change will be easier and work better, if you turn negativity into positivity and possibility thinking.
Change will be smoother if you aim at including as many people as possible every step of the way.
Change will be more effective if you have total clarity instead of confusion.
On my next post I will tell you the secrets for turning negativity into positivity.
What do you think?
Which of the above three obstacles have you encounter before? What has helped you conquer any of them? Share your comments with us.
If you found this information useful, imagine how much more effective you and your organization will be, working with me. To find out more, click here.
Photo by: Dr. RawheaD