From: Subject: PM article Template Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 09:54:42 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C28FB1.AF0E2B80"; type="text/html" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C28FB1.AF0E2B80 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: file://C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\staylor\DESKTOP\IQ%20Docs.%20Pending%20Entry\Resistance%20to%20change.htm PM article Template            =             &= nbsp;           &n= bsp;           &nb= sp;           &nbs= p;           =20 December 2002

Overcoming Resistance
To=20 Change


Jeff=20 = Davidson

With all the changes in your world, = industry,=20 and market, there will simply be no more standing still. At one time or = another,=20 all organizations share some common concerns and challenges to do with = change,=20 such as rebuilding trust, instilling a sense of ownership, shifting = strategic=20 focus, or adapting to new management. The various players in a change=20 situation=97sponsors, change agents, advocates, well-wishers, targets, = and=20 bystanders=97and how they interact with one another as a change plays = out, make=20 the difference between a winning initiative and something less=20 desirable.=20

On your path to becoming an = effective change=20 manager, recognize that the natural human response to change is = resistance.=20 People become attached to familiar ways of doing things, even ways they=20 initially regarded as cumbersome, costly, or ineffective.=20

Individuals resist change; teams and = groups=20 resist change; whole organizations do it, too. Furthermore, entire = societies,=20 continents, world religions, and even the broad sweep of humanity, = reflexively=20 resist change. Remember, =93change=94 as used throughout this article = means=20 significant, challenging, and disruptive alteration.=20

In essence, life is a series of = attempts to=20 resist change, sometimes to incorporate a change that can=92t be = opposed, and then=20 to resist any new changes.=20

Fear of the=20 Unknown
The = resistance that=20 people show when they=92re confronted by change of course derives partly = from fear=20 of the unknown. My sister worked for years in a shelter for battered = women. Time=20 after time, she would meet with victims, who would share their tales of = misery,=20 being beaten and abused by an out-of-control spouse or mate. Such mates = then=20 relented hours or days later, professing sorrow for their actions. The = women=20 returned to their partners. Then, the cycle would continue, until one = day the=20 battered woman came to the shelter.=20

My sister wondered why such women = didn=92t leave=20 these relationships. After endless rounds of battering, apologies, and = then=20 battering again, surely these victims knew the situation was not going = to=20 change. Yet, most had extreme difficulties in making what observers = thought to=20 be an obviously needed change=97leaving the relationship.=20

A minor percentage of battered = spouses were=20 afraid that the abusive mate would track them down. For the rest, the = fear of=20 the unknown was greater than the fear of the next beating or of the = potential=20 repercussions of leaving the relationship.=20

The Hardship of = Making a=20 Better Life
These = victims=20 were afraid of starting over again in a new community, finding new = homes,=20 seeking new work, and living on their own. As difficult as it was to = endure the=20 batterings, they saw greater hardship outside the relationship. The same = situation occurs in companies, communities, even entire = cultures.=20

John Kenneth Galbraith, the noted = economist=20 from Harvard, wrote The Nature of Mass Poverty. While researching for = his book,=20 he visited four continents to determine why some civilizations remain = poor. He=20 found that poor societies accommodate their poverty. As hard as it is to = live in=20 poor conditions, sadly people find it less difficult to accept this = hardship=20 than the challenge of making a better living. Hence, they accommodate = their=20 poverty, and it lingers from year to year, decade to decade, and even = century to=20 century.=20

You likely don=92t face anything = like the=20 situations described, yet the demons keeping you or your team from = embracing=20 change may be just as onerous. People resist change most of the time, = even in=20 this era, when presumably they already are acclimated to it. When = individuals=20 understand that a change will be for the better, they still will likely = resist.=20 Why?=20

A Tale of = Resistance=20
In 1981, I worked for a management=20 consultancy firm in Washington, D.C. that employed a staff of 40 people. = At the=20 end of each consulting engagement, we wrote a report for the client, = which was=20 the most cumbersome, labor-intensive aspect of the job.=20

I had written my share of reports = and was=20 looking for ways to do my work faster and easier. One day, I saw that a = staff=20 consultant used a pocket dictator to dictate letters. I asked him if I = could=20 borrow it for awhile and he agreed. I became proficient at using the = dictator in=20 about two minutes and surmised that nearly anyone could do the same. I = got his=20 permission to borrow it for the day.=20

Our office had transcription = equipment, but=20 hardly anyone knew it. I decided to dictate my next report. I loathed = writing=20 longhand, and it took me forever. When I started using the dictation = equipment,=20 miraculous things happened. Soon, I could do my job in 30 percent of the = time it=20 used to take me. Incredibly, my 40-hour workweek now only required 12=20 hours.=20

Something seemed askew. Here was a = device that=20 worked so well and so easily, and no one knew about it. I told my = coworkers of=20 this miraculous equipment and sang the virtues of dictation equipment to = my=20 boss. Surprisingly, nobody took my suggestions to give dictation a=20 try.=20

Everyone was attached to writing = reports=20 longhand, then submitting them for word processing. So I fell silent. I = decided=20 I would cease advocating dictation equipment. If others didn=92t accept = a new way=20 of doing things that could vastly improve their productivity and their = lives, so=20 be it.=20

For the next three years, I used = dictation=20 equipment extensively. I dictated every single thing that I needed to = write and=20 save on computer. One of our office administrative staff transcribed the = mini-cassettes. With a weekly average of 28 hours freed, I used the time = to=20 read, research, or help others in the office. I got large raises and = promotions=20 several times, and by 1984, I was the third-ranking professional in the=20 company.=20

I could have ordered my staff to use = dictation=20 equipment, but I refrained. Instead, I held sessions demonstrating how = to use=20 the equipment. I let everyone get familiar with it and then let them = decide=20 whether they would use it.=20

Around this time, PCs were starting = to appear=20 in offices in large numbers. Some people started typing their reports, = which was=20 a bit faster than writing but still woefully inefficient compared with=20 dictating. All eight members of my staff reverted to longhand writing = or,=20 sometimes, to typing on a computer. No one had anything to do with = dictation=20 equipment except perhaps to appease me. I let it go.=20

To this day, I am amazed at the = diffidence=20 people show toward embracing change, even when given instruction, = follow-up,=20 encouragement, time to make the transition, and every other chance to do = things=20 a new way.=20

Management sage Peter Drucker has = said that,=20 for new technology to be embraced, it has to have 10 times the = advantages of=20 what people previously did. So it goes when you=92re asking staff to = incorporate=20 changes. Nearly all changes will likely cause some awkwardness, even if = only for=20 a few moments. Some changes will have a lingering awkwardness. Some will = make=20 your people feel self-conscious for days on end. But if they must = undergo this=20 unease, it will help if you give them validation for their feelings, a = most=20 helpful gesture in inducing them to move on.=20

An effective change manager = anticipates=20 resistance at the outset of a change campaign. He or she almost welcomes = resistance because it=92s a sign that the change process is unfolding. = Consider=20 this situation: a change seen to be burdensome or demanding meets with = little=20 resistance from those charged with executing it. If anything, such a = situation=20 is cause for alarm because people would be masking their = reactions.=20

Eat What They=20 Eat
When you = understand=20 what your troops are enduring, potentially you can be a far better = manager. In=20 the movie The Battle of the Bulge, the German commander, played by = Robert Shaw,=20 was served a lavish meal one evening, when rations for his men had had = to be cut=20 back. He waved away the server, in effect saying, =93Bring me the same = level of=20 rations that my men are receiving.=94=20

This commander showed he understood = the=20 importance of sharing the experience suffered by his targets of change. = He could=20 easily have eaten the lavish meal and justified the feast. He could = still have=20 empathized with what the troops were undergoing. He could imagine what = it must=20 be like to eat only 40 percent of one=92s normal calories. He could = learn the=20 results of lower protein levels and could discuss the effects of calorie = deprivation.=20

None of these maneuvers, however, = would give=20 him the insights that would naturally accrue from eating the same meal = as they=20 had.=20

What about you? Are you ready to = have the same=20 meal as your targets of change? Or will you rationalize the situation, = claiming=20 you have the intellectual and emotional capacity to empathize with them? = The old=20 adage =93Do as I say, not as I do=94 can sound the death knell for a = change=20 manager.=20

If you are managing people reporting = to you=20 from different locations, chances are that each participant will feel as = if he=20 is incurring the change alone! Managing change is challenging enough = when a=20 group meets at the same location. It is magnified when targets of change = report=20 in from a distance by e-mail, phone, and fax.=20

In such a scenario, your task is to = be more=20 supportive and available than ever. You may be the only sounding board = for=20 individuals in tumult. If they haven=92t participated in a change = campaign before,=20 at least knowingly, they are likely to feel as if their burden is = unique:=20 =93Nobody knows the trouble I=92ve seen.=94 This is all the more reason = to convene the=20 group periodically so its members can share their observations and=20 insights.=20

One Is the = Loneliest=20 Number
When U.S. = troops=20 began returning from World War II, they were assembled in large numbers, = consigned to ships, and over several months slowly shipped home. During = their=20 time on board, they got to reflect with one another and mentally and = emotionally=20 prepare themselves for reintegration into civilian society.=20

Conversely, U.S. troops returning = from the=20 Vietnam War came home one at a time, injured or in a hurry. They came = via jets=20 that transported them in less than 24 hours from a hellish environment = back to=20 their old world. There was little or no transition time, scant chance = for=20 camaraderie with people who had shared a like experience, no time to = prepare=20 mentally and emotionally for reentry into the civilian = world.=20

The WWII vets came home, got = married, had=20 children, and bought houses. The Vietnam vets often couldn=92t have = relationships,=20 even within their own psyches, and incurred a high rate of drug abuse = and=20 suicide.=20

Analyses of plane-crash survivors in = remote=20 locations or people simply stuck for hours in elevators share that their = plights=20 were lessened because of the companionship. Similarly, it takes a rare=20 individual to succeed alone in the face of disruptive = change.=20

Following World War II, lone = soldiers emerged=20 periodically who had been stranded on remote islands for 10 or 12 years, = believing that the battles still were going on. Now we know that such = real-world=20 survivors are a unique breed. They are able to survive without perhaps = the only=20 comforting aspect of an ordeal=97the chance to commiserate with others.=20 Fortunately, your staff members have you to guide them through their = darkest=20 hours.=20

Inducing=20 Commitment
If = there were no=20 such thing as resistance, people could commit themselves to a change = campaign in=20 a nanosecond. Whatever plans you had laid out, once understood, could be = acted=20 upon swiftly. Change management consultant Daryl Conner sees commitment = and=20 resistance as two sides of the same coin.=20

Initially, the time and energy = investment you=20 will make to ensure commitment will be high. If you don=92t work to = build=20 commitment, at least at first, it may seem to you that you have gotten a = free=20 ride. Resistance among your staff doesn=92t seem to be significant! But = wait a=20 moment! As the campaign proceeds, resistance mounts. Now, any efforts = that you=20 make to shore up commitment need to be far greater than they would have = been at=20 the outset, had you recognized the importance of early = efforts.=20

Why don=92t more change managers pay = the price=20 of securing commitment early? For one thing, it=92s a huge task, and=20 implementation can be exceedingly slow. It can feel as if you are not = getting=20 anywhere. Also, some change managers are lulled into thinking that = resistance=20 simply won=92t be a major factor later on.=20

Daryl Conner says that securing = commitment=20 among targets early on wins =93bodies and souls,=94 whereas failing to = do so may win=20 =93bodies but not souls.=94  The change manager who is willing to = work to=20 develop strong commitment will position her team and indeed her campaign = for=20 project success, rather than simply gaining compliance that might be=20 fleeting.=20

Conner points out that =93many = times, the way=20 people are approached=97rather than the change itself=97is what causes = resistance.=94=20 He=92s observed that targets are likely to say that the change itself = wasn=92t so=20 bad, but the way it was foisted upon them ruffled a lot of = feathers.=20

Slow = Down=20
One paradox of starting a change = campaign, in=20 light of the need to secure commitment and to ward off anticipated = resistance,=20 is that often the first thing you need to do is slow down. Temporarily, = slow=20 down, to manage a campaign that will unfold rapidly.=20

By slowing down, you get the chance = to develop=20 synergistic working relationships, better communication, and more staff=20 involvement. While change managers naturally jump into a campaign = seeking to=20 reach full speed in short order, the reality, proven through the ages, = is that=20 the best change campaigns start at a measured, deliberate pace. Starting = slowly,=20 a change can ultimately be incorporated at an accelerated pace. =

Jeff Davidson, M.B.A., C.M.C. (http://www.breathingspace.com/), is a professional = speaker,=20 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the author of Breathing Space: Living & Working at a = Comfortable=20 Pace in a Sped-Up Society.=20

Copyright =A9 2002 = by the=20 International City/County Management Association=20 (ICMA)

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