When somebody told you “You should change….”, how did you react? Did you accept it in a positive way that encouraged you to do the change or resist it in any possible way? Why do people resist change? Why do people want to create change? Can change be managed? How can we manage change?
Resistance to Change
According to Mullins (2013), there are several common reasons for each individual resistance to change. First, most people have different selective perception in which they perceived things as It is, yet it is actually more a stereotype rather than the actual. For example, if people perceived that change is bad, they are more likely resistance to change. This different perception which I also discussed in my first blog Let’s Dive in Diversity, creates different response towards change.
Second, they used to their habit. Old patterns are very seductive because people are used to it. They prefer the comfort of their status quo, which commonly known as “comfort zone”. Therefore, it is hard for them to change their common behaviour into the new unfamiliar one. The next reason is inconvenience or loss of freedom. If the change makes people to be uncomfortable and inconvenient or even makes them feel losing their freedom, people will more likely resist to it. Economic implications is also another cause for people resistance to change. People perceived that every change will bring a negative impact on their economy, such as reducing either directly or indirectly their pay and other rewards or demanding for an increasing productivity in the same salary. Some people also tend to find a sense of security in the past. When people face difficulty with new unfamiliar procedures, they tend to reflect on the past and wish to retain the old methods which in turns lead to the behaviour of resistance. Finally, the most common reason on why people resist to change is fear of the unknown. For instance, imagine that you are on your way for crossing the bridge, however you realise that the bridge is covered with fog. Naturally, most people will resist to cross the bridge right away because they are afraid of the uncertainty that awaits them across or on the bridge. They will then continue their journey when the path is clear for them. This case can also be applied when people are subject to accept the change. The change that confronts people with the unknown and uncertainty might cause anxiety and fear which then results in their resistance to change.
Benefits of Change
Although there are some people who are resistance to change, there are others who believe that change will bring a lot of benefits. These people accept changes and sometimes they want to create changes which I believe as one attitude that a leader should have as I have also mentioned in my previous blog Are All Managers Great Leaders?. So, what are the drivers that trigger changes? The drivers of change can be either from external forces such as new government regulation that forces the organisation to meet the new requirement or from internal forces, like for example the decreasing of profitability or sales that requires a review on strategy. However, I believe that the most important factor which drives change is competition. In this globalisation and digital era where the technology is more advanced and the market is open all over the world, competition is inevitable. To survive in this highly competitive world, people and organisation should be able to deliver a competitive advantage in which change is required. If you can see from the picture, how change has been created from a traditional phone into a mobile smartphone. If you are a company that sells telephone, would you consider selling the traditional black phone in current market? Will you still produce the traditional phone? Or have you just realised that there is urgency to change to meet the need of changing market?
In addition to the drivers of change, people and organisation might actually get benefits from change. Growth is one that I can mention. If you stay in your status quo, it will only be a matter of time until you face a stagnant condition. That is why you need to change in order to grow and learn new things. Take for example Sir Richard Branson, a co-founder of Virgin Group who embraces change and turns the company into a global conglomeration. His risky decision to go into unrelated business diversification from only selling music records in 1970 to offer sectors ranging from mobile telephony, travel, financial services, music, leisure, holidays and health has been proven to a successful growth of the company (Johnson, Whittington and Scholes 2011, Virgin 2014). Another benefit you can obtain from change is opportunities. One will never know what each change will bring. When you turn from your usual path, there will be plenty of different opportunities waiting for you.
For instance, Steve Jobs, a co-founder of Apple who was widely-known for its revolutionary technologies in laptop, tablet and handsets (Bio 2014), had embraced change. If he was resistance to change, iPhone will probably not exist in this world. It means that change can give opportunities and rooms for innovation and creativity. Change can also bring flexibility to you. Someone who is highly resistance to change tend to be strict and less flexible to any different cases. For example, in my previous job as a member of Internal Audit Department, we were required to be flexible in handling different people and situation. One of our tasks is to provide the audit report and recommendation. If we think that our policy and procedure is perfect and does not need to be changed, we perhaps will miss some loopholes and could not provide guidance to solve certain cases.
We can also see a new beginning because each change is a turning page. It is about closing one chapter and opening a new one. One other thing that I personally believe is that change can bring motivation for some people. For people who are easily get bored with the routine that they face every single day, change could re-motivate them once again.
Managing Change
I have seen how uneasy people if confronted by change in my previous job. They are very defensive and resist in any possible way to our new proposed procedures. However, I believe that change can be managed. It is supported by Lewin who introduced three steps in a planned-changed effort (Mullins 2013), despite of its limitation in assuming that organisations operate under stable conditions (Burnes 2014).
The first step in Lewin’s transformational model is unfreezing, where the old pattern or status quo needs to be examined, increase the driving forces for change and decrease the resisting forces that against. In order to motivate people to change in this stage, it is necessary to overcome resistance. There are several strategies to overcome resistance. You can educate them regarding the change by giving them briefing, seminar or training. You can also communicate the purpose and the benefits of change with them. Another action you can take is making them participate and feel being involved so that they will experience that the change is actually not that hard. Give them support and assistance if they have questions regarding the change. You can also negotiate with them to reach an agreement about the change. The next step is changing, where we need to identify what needs to be changed, implement the change and involve people. The last step is refreezing to make the changes permanent.
Another model that we can use to manage change is Kotter’s eight steps to transforming organisation (Kotter 2007). It begins with creating a sense of urgency to change as also suggested by Lewin’s model. The second step is building a guiding team with the credibility, skills, connection, reputation and formal authority to lead change. In this step, find a change agent, someone who can sell and promote the idea of the change.
The next one is create a sensible and clear vision with appropriate sets of strategies and communicate them in order to induce understanding and gain people commitment. Remember the case of crossing a foggy bridge I mentioned earlier, most people will cross the bridge after the path is clear. Therefore, communicating the clear vision, strategy and purpose of change is very crucial to the successful of change itself. After that, you need to empower others to act on the visionwhere it might be necessary to get rid of obstacles to change.
Producing short-term wins where you are recognising and rewarding people involved in the improvements or change process is the next step prior to consolidating improvements and producing more change. After you make the change, it is important to make the change stick by maintaining a new procedure or culture. However, according to Appelbaum et al. (2012), this model has a limitation in which some transformations do not require nor are able to go through certain steps. Therefore, certain steps might not be applicable in particular transformations. Yet, you still need to remember that whatever model you choose to manage your change, change is a process, it takes time and it is not instant. Hence, you can be considered successful in change only after the change remains there.
It takes a small step to lead you to a bigger one. So, why don’t you try one? Be a change agent at least for yourself or for your small team.
References:
Appelbaum, S.H., Habashy, S., Malo, J.L. and Shafiq, H. (2012) ‘Back to the Future: Revisiting Kotter’s 1996 Change Model’ Journal of Management Development [online] 31 (8), 764-782. available from <http://www.appelbaumconsultants.com/articles/2011-/BacktotheFutureRevisitingKottersChangeModel.pdf> [24 June 2014]
Bio (2014) Steve Jobs Biography [online] available from <http://www.biography.com/people/steve-jobs-9354805#awesm=~oI7NBPUMAO0SXf> [24 June 2014]
Burnes, B. (2014) Managing Change. 6th ed. Harlow: Pearson
Johnson, G., Whittington, R. and Scholes, K. (2011) Exploring Strategy. 9th ed. Essex: Pearson Education
Kotter, J.P. (2007) ‘Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail’ Harvard Business Review [online] January 2007. available from <https://www.bestprincipledsolutions.com/uploads/2011_ClassicsCompendium_ Must_Read_Articles_for_Managerial_Success_.pdf#page=127> [24 June 2014]
Mullins, L.J. (2013) Management & Organisational Behaviour. 10th ed. Harlow: Pearson
Virgin (2014) About Us [online] available from <https://www.virgin.com/about-us> [24 June 2014]