The MTL Professional Development Programme is a collection of 202 PowerPoint presentations that will provide you with step-by-step summaries of a key management or personal development skill. This presentation is on "Responding to Change" and will show you how most people respond to change and how you can respond in positive ways by managing it.  

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
RESPONDING TO
CHANGE
How comfortable are you with change?
MTL: The Professional Development Programme

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
Attribution: All images are from sources where a Creative Commons license exists for commercial use. All icons are on subscription
from thenounproject. All clipart is from free sources. The MTL Professional Development Programme is copyright of Manage Train
Learn.
Responding to
Change
Introduction: Change is an ever-present in our lives today. It defines the way we live
and work. Yet, for many, change is seen as a threat: something to be avoided and
denied. In this topic are 7 of the most common reactions to change that result in
opportunities missed.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
Statue of a Spanish conquistador of the 16th century
1. DO
NOTHING
https://www.flickr.com/photos/entoni/7102403097/
There are all sorts of excuses for not responding
to change. They include, “we don't know there is
a need to change”; “we know but pretend it
doesn't matter”; “everyone else is in the same
boat”. Not to respond to change is like the
Peruvian Indians of the 16th century who thought
that the approaching Spanish invaders were sea
monsters. They froze and were conquered.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
2. DO
ANYTHING
https://pixabay.com/en/office-two-people-business-team-1209640/
Don’t abdicate your need to change to outsiders
One of the “do-anything” responses to change in
the 1990's was to turn to outside change
consultants to tell people what to do. However,
for many the experience was a costly disaster.
Many realized too late that, to survive change,
there are no easy answers from outside; the
answers lie within.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
Constant change can feel like a whirlwind
3. DO
EVERYTHING
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alainwibert/6120607798/
Taking major action to deal with change has long
been a knee-jerk reaction in some large
organizations. They believe that change requires
a steady stream of initiatives from the top down.
The result for those below is change indigestion
and the result for the organization a sore tummy.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
4. DEFY
CHANGE
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canute_rebukes_his_courtiers.p
ng
King Canute shows he cannot stop the tide
Defying inevitable change is an option of many
organizations who think they are big enough to
resist what is happening around them. It's the
Canute-style of management, named after the
English king who thought he could turn back the
incoming tide simply by telling it to. Even Coca-
Cola, whose century-old drink still tastes the
same today as when it started, test-markets a
new product every month, just in case.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
https://www.flickr.com/photos/soulesa/9291690635/
See your organisation as a growing organism
5. TINKER
AROUND THE
EDGES
There are 2 different ways to look at
organizations: as machines or as organic plants.
When change arrives, the "machine"
organizations tinker around the edges, replacing
the worn-out parts and upgrading the rest. The
organizations who see themselves as growing
plants tend the soil of culture and growth.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
6. EVOLVE
Evolution as a way of handling change is the
Darwinian approach to change: gradual,
incremental adaptation. This can be very effective
if you have time. For example, the largest makers
of buggy whips in America at the turn of the 19th
century are now the biggest makers of
carburettors. However, in fast-moving times, even
evolution may be too slow an option for some.
The market for buggy whips is not that great
https://pixabay.com/en/amish-people-joe-keim-amish-country-1036330/

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
The Spanish invader, Hernan Cortes
7. RELY ON
OTHERS
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Retrato_de_Hern%C3%A1n_Co
rt%C3%A9s.jpg
Relying on others to take you through change
exposes you to two possible unwanted outcomes.
First, your leaders may be so immersed in the old
ways that they can't see the need to change.
Second, they may play the Cortes trick and take
you down with them. This is the action the
Spanish conquistador, Cortes, took when faced
with defeat by the Mexican Indians: instead of
retreating, he burnt his ships.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Responding to Change
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn
AFinal
Word
None of these approaches on their own will ensure you manage change successfully. That will only
happen when you let go of your fear of change, understand the opportunities that await you, and
learn how to manage it.