Introduction
This week’s blog focuses
on the resistance to change. 50 Reasons Not
to Change (Watkins, 2011) and The Tribes We
Lead (Godin, 2009) are featured presentations that should be reviewed to
enhance the understanding of the content in this reflection blog, so please
take a few minutes to review these presentations. I hope that the personal
experiences I will share with you will bring clarity and depth to the topics
featured.
“It’s Impossible!” or “It’s Not My Job”
There are many one liners
resistors to change will fling at you to stop change from happening. I believe
that most people in a frame of mind of resisting change just for the sake of resisting change are in either in a child ego
state or in a parent ego state. Eric Berne really gave me a fresh perspective
on communication with his transactional analysis theory that “every human being
has three ego states: a parent, an adult, and a child.” (Mckay & Fanning,
2009, p. 89). What ego state would you predict that most of the one liners to
resisting change come from?
Paying attention to what
ego state you are in and the person(s) you are communicating with can be a
great step in understanding the resistance to change and provides important
information on how to navigate towards resolution and implementing change. If a
resistor of change is in a child or parent state, moving them to the adult
state is key in making the communication productive in improving the change
quality and sustainability. In group situations, moving a group of people that
are in mixed ego states presents a tougher challenge. In either situation,
one-on-one or in groups, articulating a clear vision of why the change is
needed is a key ingredient for initiating change. “The success of a major
change will depend to a great extent on how well leaders communicate the reasons
why proposed change is necessary and beneficial.” (Yukl, 2013, p. 89). Articulating
a clear vision of why change is needed also happens to lie within the framework
of communicating in an adult ego state.
Communications that come from your adult position are direct and
straight. Your adult describes, it asks questions, it assesses probabilities;
it evaluates the known and the unknown, the true and the false. It has opinions
rather than judgements of beliefs. It is aware, but the awareness has no
emotional charge. (Mckay & Fanning, 2009).
Brown (2011) supports
the notion not to react to harshly change resistance because the resistance provides
important feedback needed to aid in the change strategy “Resistance properly understood
as feedback, can be an important resource in improving the quality and clarity
of the objectives and strategies at the heart of a change proposal.” (Jeffery and Laurie Ford as cited by Brown,
2011, p. 154).
“If it’s Not Broke
Don’t Fix It!”
Another common one liner
resistors of change will throw at a change movement in an effort to halt change
in its tracks. In fact this line is so common that even I have used this line
and in truth there are some instances where this way of thinking is actually
appropriate. One that comes to mind is a situation where stability is needed to
take some of the pressure off of the system that change puts on a system. One
example would be a recent decision not to use some authoring fields in our
S1000D product (S1000D is a globally accepted design specification used for
authoring technical documentation). Had we decided to populate these fields now
we would likely benefit in two to three years from now, but the additional pressure
the changes would have placed on our fragile S1000D importing process posed a
risk. Ultimately we made the decision not to populate the fields and avoid the
risk of breaking what wasn’t broke.
Additionally, and
perhaps the most important reason why this line may save an organization, if
the reason for change and a vision of how to get there cannot be explained don’t
implement the change. “The single biggest reason organizational changes fail is
that no one thought about endings or planned to manage their impact on people…the
first task of transition management is to convince people to leave home.”
(Brown, 2011, p. 145).
Overcoming the
Resistance to Change
One technique I have
already mentioned and that is understanding ego states and moving the resistor
to change into an adult ego state. The simplest way to describe how to move
someone from a child or parent state is to stand your ground in the adult state
and wait for them to join you as an adult. When both parties involved are in an
adult ego state, serious collaboration to implement the change begins, rationale
options are explored, reasonable decisions are often made, and the odds for
change implementation success vastly increases.
Beyond ego states, Brown
(2011) offers some very useful information about overcoming resistance to
change. Climate conducive to change is one of them (p. 154). Climate probably
looms largest in all of the factors the affect resistance to change. Is
management trusted? Do they listen? Are
they judgmental? Without trust in
management, two-way communication paths, and fairness established, change
implementation will not be easily implemented or accepted.
Right up there with
climate is communicating a clear vision of change. “Without a well understood
vision, the change is likely to go haphazardly in many unintended directions.”
(Brown, 2011. P. 154). This is where good story-tellers rain supreme in
articulating a vison of the future and motivate people towards change.
The telling of stories
about the future has thus come to be seen as a central task of leadership.
Indeed, according to Noel Tichy in The
leadership Engine, winning leaders create and use future stories to help
people break away from the familiar present and venture boldly ahead to create
a better future. (Denning, 2011, p. 231).
Tribe Driven
Changes
In the video The Tribes We Lead, Seth asserts that “…thanks
to the internet, thanks to the explosion of mass media, thanks to a lot of
other things that are bubbling through our society around the world, tribes are
everywhere.” and that “…it turns out that it’s tribes – not money, not
factories – that can change our world, that can change politics, that can align
large numbers of people. Not because you force them to do something against
their will, but because the wanted to connect.” (Godin, 2009).
Seth certainly has a
strong argument that is evidenced by countless movements around the globe by
tribes connected by a common value or set of values. I, myself, am a member of
a global tribe. Chess.com is one of several tribes I associate with. Our
particular tribe hasn’t taken up a movement yet, but after watching Seth’s
video, the creative juices are flowing. Another tribe I’m a member of is our
organizations Book Club. I’m actually the tribe leader or facilitator of the
Book Club meetings. Our movement is all
about improving ourselves and those around us as professionals, husbands,
wives, sons, daughters etc.
Summary
Viewing 50 Reasons Not
to Change (Watkins, 2011) and The Tribes We
Lead (Godin, 2009) has brought together some very powerful concepts in
meaningful ways that I may never have had experienced otherwise. From
transactional analysis to storytelling and from climate of change to tribes,
these are all new frame connections that have added depth to my perception of
how to initiate change. Hopefully you too have benefited from this blog.
References:
Denning,
S. (2011). The leader's guide to
storytelling: Mastering the art and discipline of business narrative. San
Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass.
Godin,
S. (2009). The tribes we lead. [Video
file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead/transcript?language=en#t-359000.
McKay,
M., Davis, M. & Fanning, P. (2009). Messages:
The communication skills book. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications,
Inc.
Watkins,
D. (2011). 50 reasons not to change.
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/z2v2cvo4t9tc/50-reasons-not-to-change/.
Yukl,
G. (2013). Leadership in organizations.
Boston MA: Pearson.
