What is resistance to change? Why are change leaders so much afraid of people resisting change? Are you, yourself, dreading this bunch of experienced professionals who “have always done things the same way”? And what is your attitude with these folks then?
Well, as controversial as it might be, I strongly believe that resistance to change is a good thing. I am now going to give you three reasons why I think this way.
#1 – Resistance is a driving force
The first reason why I like to work with people who resist is that the act of resisting, in itself, is a tremendous source of energy. No change leader will say that changing is easy. Changing requires courage, strength, enthusiasm, passion to make things better. Changing cannot happen with passive stakeholders simply waiting for the rain to fall from the sky. So, when your audience resists, it means that, at least, your opponents do have some energy. This is a compulsory requirement to implementing any form of change.
Without such energy, you end up with either nice documents, but nothing happening in real. Just good ideas that never materialize. Or you end up with people who seem to passively accept what you are saying, but who do not truly adhere to the new ways. Either way, the change is not fully implemented; you don’t make a real difference. Your change program is not the success it could be with a stronger impulse.
So, in conclusion, when people resist, you do have a tank of energy at hand to drive and implement real change.
#2- When people resist, you do have the chance to show you are hearing them
As any experienced change leader knows, the main reason why people resist to change is because they are afraid of what is coming next. And that is perfectly normal and natural. Think about it when you are the one asked to change: aren’t you afraid of losing power, or afraid of unknown consequences? Why would anyone else not be afraid of you when you ask them to change something that has worked for years for them?
At least, when fears are expressed in the form of resistance to change, you, as a change leader, have the chance to show that you are here to hear concerns rather than cultivating fears hidden in people who seem to passively accept to change. Going even further, when people resist, you have a unique opportunity to help them overcome their fears, and hence help them to better buy into the change. When fears are not expressed, they are likely to stay hidden even though they exist and persist underneath. As a result, the change will not be truly implemented until the people expected to change are reassured.
So, in conclusion, expressed resistances are your chance to reassure people and make them active contributors to the change rather than victims of a new model they are afraid of.
#3 – Being yourself afraid of resistance triggers even stronger resistance
Going one step further, if you start to be yourself afraid of resistances, your natural attitude, whether you are aware of it or not, is to confront and oppose your stakeholders. And from the point of time when people feel you are opposed to their point of view rather than trying to hear them, they become more and more afraid of you. Thus you are cultivating fears, and triggering even more resistance. In short, the more you are afraid of resistance, the more you oppose, and the more resistance you trigger. This is the principle of “action-reaction” in physics. This is what Newton said this way: “To every action, there is always opposed reaction.”
Instead, if you encourage resistance as a natural process to accompany change, compassionately showing that you hear people fears, your stakeholders will be a lot more inclined to trust you rather than to oppose you.
So, in conclusion, your own apprehension to resistance to change will only result in more and more walls and barriers being established between you and your stakeholders, who will end up resisting your ideas even further.
All in all, I am sure you are now convinced that resistance to change is nothing to be afraid of. On the contrary ! Understand resistance, use it as a driving force to help people overcome their fears and make them become active and energetic contributors to the change you are designing for them. Don’t be afraid of resistance; look for resistance as a catalyst to drive more powerful change programs !
For those of you who have read my book Lean Six Sigma: Coach me if you can, and my articles, you know my style: I like to provoke thoughts. Thinking differently applies to every one of us, as change leaders, before we can be credible to expect such out-of-the-box thinking to the people whose processes we are changing in the course of our projects. So, what do you think? Do you oppose resistances? Do you work around them? Or do you adhere with my view to, somehow, encourage them?
The Process Excellence String of Ariadne 