2. Agenda
• Introduction
• Why do people Resist Change?
• Non-Verbal Resistance
• Verbal Resistance
• How to Overcome Resistance
• Tools/Resources
• References
3. Humans are wired to Resist Change
Comfy Habits
Take the Easy Way Out (Lieberman, 2007)
X-systems (Reflexive) - requires lower energy-Limbic System hippocampus
C-systems (Reflective) – requires more energy –located in pre-frontal cortex
Error Alert (Rock & Schwartz, 2006)
Survival/Surprise “Auto-Pilot” Orbital Cortex Amygdala Action
Brain then looks for a return to certainty and predictability reflection is absent.
Threat/Reward
Minimize threat and maximize reward….Oxygen and glucose levels drop in
the pre-frontal cortex when threats occur making change less likely….and
When rewarded the Brain releases dopamine we feel better and are more
likely to repeat behaviors that have made us good in the past as opposed to
change (Gordon, 2000)
4. Reasons for Resistance
(1/3)
Misunderstanding about the need for change
Is there a hidden agenda? (Internal Consultants)
Few or no role models for change
People can’t imagine what change will be like
Observational learning works!
Poor Communication
Temporary fad
May believe change is wrong and should not occur
5. Reasons for Resistance
(2/3)
Connected to the old
Emotional bonds of loyalty
Change can feel like a betrayal
Fear of the unknown
Risk of change vs. risk of not changing
Low trust
Low trust in the leader or consultant to ‘do it right’
6. Reasons for Resistance
(3/3)
Lack of competence
Fear of inadequecy
New skill set required, individuals ask if they have what it takes
Changes to routines and themselves
Change can threaten who a client is as an individual and their sense of self (D&I work)
Exhaustion/Saturation
Change can be put off until real risk jumps starts the client
Change in the status quo
Is not always a win/win for all parties involved
Benefits and rewards
7. How Resistance Shows up
Active
Finding Fault/Blaming
Ridiculing/Arguing
Appealing to Fear
Manipulating/Distorting
Blocking
Strike
Boycott
Lockouts
Passive Resistance
Agree verbally & Not Follow-up
Feigning Ignorance
Withhold information
Failing to Participate
Ignoring
Mishandling
11. Types of Verbal Resistance
Accusations
Impractical
Attack
Moralizing
Questions
Give client more
detail
Confusion
Methodology
Pressing for
solutions
Avoidance
Client gives
more detail
Time
Not surprised
Silence
Intellectualizing
Compliance
Flight to health
15. Overcoming Resistance vs
Dealing with Resistance
Resistance is and emotional process
Three Steps to dealing with resistance
Identify the form of resistance
Name the resistance
Let them respond
16. What May Drive Change
Business or Organizational Strategy Driven by the Market
• Technology
• Political
• Competition
• New Opportunities…Obsolete products or services
• Financial pressures or opportunities
Organizational Structure ….
• Mergers/Acquisitions
• New Leadership or Key Turnover
• Expansion or contraction of products or services.
Cultural
• Workforce diversification/generational
• Customer base “Globalization”
17. Pick up on Cues
Trust your eyes and not what the client is saying
Listen to yourself
Listen for repetition or telling lines
18. Name the Resistance
(This doesn’t mean calling someone out)
It is about keeping open and honest conversation
“…And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other
people the right to do the same. As we are liberated from our own
fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Williamson, M.
(1992).
19. Be Quiet and Let Them Respond
Ask to listen
Do not take responses personally
Respond in good faith
Remember: at the end of the day some things just do not go right
with clients
25. Bibliography
Block, P. (2011). Flawless Consulting: A guide to getting your expertise used.
San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer Publications.
Bridges, W., (2009). Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change.
Philadelphia, Pa.: Da Capo Lifelong.
Bringselius, L. (2010). Resistance to change, Four interpretations. School of
Economics and Management, Lunds Univeristy. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
Burke, W.W. (2008). Organization change: Theory and practice. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Dent, E. B. and Goldberg, S. G, (2013). Challenging 'Resistance to Change'
Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35 (1), 25-41
Gordon, E. (2000). Integrative Neuroscience: Bringing together biological,
psychological and clinical models of the human brain. Singapore: Harwood
Academic Publishers.
26. Bibliography
Leiberman, M. (2007), “Social Cognitive Neuroscience: A Review of Core
Processes. “ Annual Review of Psychology 58: 259-89.Lewin, K.
(1947a).‘Frontiers in group dynamics’. In Cartwright, D. (Ed.), Field Theory in
Social Science. London: Social Science Paperbacks.
Mindrum, C. (2013). Do people always resist change. Talent Management.
Retrieved from http://www.talentmgt.com/articles/do-people-always-resist-
change.
Nur-e-Rahman Nichols. Why Change Management Often Fails: The People.
www.forbes.com/sites/sungardas/2015/05/20/the-dirty-side-of-change-
management
Rock, D, and Schwartz, J. (2006). “The Neuroscience of Leadership.”
Strategy + Business 43: 72-82
Strebel, P. (). Why Do Employees Resist Change?. Harvard Business Review,
Vol. 74 Issue 3, p.86-92
Williamson, M. (1992). A return to love: Reflections on the principles of a
Course in miracles. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Editor's Notes
Personal compacts can make or break change. Often to make change last, social compacts must be revised between the client and employees. –Paul Strebel
According to statistics on major corporate change programs, as many as 70 percent of them fail or underperform because of cultural resistance (Mindrum 2013). As Juan discussed there are many forms of non-verbal resistance and often times we don’t even realize it can be our natural state or that we are doing these behaviors. Block discusses 14 types of Verbal resistance. I have broken these out into 3 themes. Accusations, Questions and Avoidance. I will be giving a high-level overview of the types of verbal resistance. Block does a great job talking through each of these in more detail. One of the things I think is important to discuss is the how we recognize verbal resistance is taking place. There times when many of these may be valid, but there is a point when it changes from valid questions to resistance.
Accusations:
Types
Impractical – The client accuses the consultant of being impractical and idealistic with their solutions
Attack – The client uses angry words to attack the consultant
Moralizing – The client uses phrases like “those people” or “They need to understand” making the conversation about people not in the room and invites the consultant to come into a select circle of people.
How you know
All three of these can be identified by the intensity in which the client reiterates the practicality, the “other” peoples views or uses aggressive language. If the conversation comes up time and time again you know this is actually an emotional issue rather than rational.
How you can react
It is critical that the consultant does not get caught up in the language by either defending the practicality, attacking the client or agreeing that they understand the change but everyone else doesn’t get it. It can be easy to get caught up in the emotion of any of these three, and the awareness of the situation is key.
Questions:
Types
Give clients more detail – The client continues to push for finer and finer bits of information, no matter the information it is never enough
Confusion – Need to explain things 3 + times and client still says they are confused
Methodology – repeated questions regarding methodology
Pressing for solutions – Client desires solutions
How you know
In many of these situations a trigger to know if they cross from initial curiosity to resistance is if you begin to get annoyed with the amount of questions they are asking regarding the consultant, the project methods or how to solve the project. Often times it will get to a point where the consultant begins to get impatient with the client or you are talking about the same thing for longer than 10 minutes. These tactics can help the client avoid addressing the real problem at hand
Avoidance:
Types
Client gives more detail – provides more and more information which makes less and less sense
Time – They don’t have time to do the project
Not surprised – Leadership says they are not surprised of the change
Silence
Intellectualizing – Start exploring theory after theory
Compliance – agreement and respect
Right to health – client no longer has a problem right when you are about to address it
How you know
Within these 7 types of avoidance there are 3 main ways you know if they have become resistance
If you start to get bored or confused
The client’s primary emotion whether they show no personal investment or they are overly agreeable these can all be signs of resistance
They focus on something else or improvement when the critical issue is being discussed.
Block discusses the idea of overcoming resistance in his book Flawless Consulting (2000).He discusses how one cannot simply overcome a person’s resistance. He states that one has to deal with resistance instead of trying to conquer it like it is an enemy. That voice saying in your head “if I can just convince this person to do what I want then everything will be great” The more you push against that person you will face more and more resistance. We have all been on both sides of that equation. How many times has someone trying to push you do something just make you not want to do it at all? How many times have you been on the opposite side- where you can’t understand why this person doesn’t listen to you-YOU HAVE THE ANSWER. This doesn’t work because resistance is an emotion process where the very thing you are trying to conquer is someone feeling.
Another article I found describes it as Resistance could be a conviction, opinion, psychological reaction, and personality.
Feelings are not things that do well in the dark. They will fester and harm the client relationship. Many times people don’t want to resist change it is the organization pressures that make them think it can’t be done.
There are ways to deal with it though cause lets face it, if you are a consultant this is your meat and potatoes.
Block, P. (2000). Flawless consulting a guide to getting your expertise used (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Bringselius, L. (2010). Resistance to change, Four interpretations. School of Economics and Management, Lunds Univeristy. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
Williamson, M. (1992). A return to love: Reflections on the principles of a Course in miracles. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Pick up on cues
Trust what you see over what you hear- Is the person saying yes to everything but acting like the client from the second exercise? Then they are resisting!
Listen to yourself- How do you feel about everything that is going on? Are you starting to become frustrated? Chances are they could be too?
Listen for repetition or telling lines
Are they asking the same questions over and over?
Are they saying things like you don’t understand? We have all been there remember these people are in a war zone and you just got flown to the front lines it is much more difficult than you are making it sound.
Williamson, M. (1992). A return to love: Reflections on the principles of a Course in miracles. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Be quiet let them respond-
You asked so listen- actively listen this is important because you asked about their feeling and if they don’t feel like you care about their response you just introduced a bunch of toxic energy to the relationship
Don’t take it personally remember these people are experiencing emotion.- I used to try and help people getting their home insurance cancelled this is an emotional experience- fear is easy to identify.
Respond in good faith
Remember at the end of the day there are some clients where things just won’t go right.
