WHY PEOPLE RESIST CHANGE ?

Leadership is about change. How a person manages change reflects the quality of his/her leadership. But what can a leader do when faced with omnipresent resistance for change ?

Resistance to change comes in many ways. From foot-dragging and inertia to petty sabotage to outright protests. A true leader should possess emotional intelligence. The best way a leader can manage change is to understand the predictable, universal sources of resistance in each situation and then strategize around them. Here are such reasons that are most common.

1. Loss of control. Change can make people feel that they have lost control over their territory. It's not just about who has the power. Our sense of self-determination is often the first thing we go to when we face with a potential change coming from another party. Smart leaders will identify the people affected by change and give them room to make choices. Meanwhile they will invite others into the planning, giving them ownership.
2. Excess uncertainty. Change makes most of the people insecure. If change feels like walking on a thin edge blindfolded, people will obviously reject it. Naturally people will often prefer to remain in misery than to head towards an unknown. As the saying goes, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.” To overcome inertia requires a sense of safety as well as an inspiring vision. Leaders should create certainty of process, with clear, simple steps and timetables.
3. Surprise Effect. Decisions imposed on people suddenly, with no time to get used to the idea or prepare for the consequences, are generally resisted. It’s always easier to say No than to say Yes. Leaders should avoid the temptation to craft changes in secret and then announce them all at once. It’s better to plant seeds — that is, to sprinkle hints of what might be coming and seek input.
4. Everything seems different. Change means something different is happening. The question is to which extent is the difference. Humans are habitual. We get used to routines but change pushes us into consciousness, sometimes in uncomfortable ways. When there are too many differences, it can be distracting and confusing. A true leader should try and minimize the number of "unrelated differences" introduced by a central change. It is important to keep things as familiar as possible. A common problem is losing focus on the important things and making changes just for the sake of change.
5. Loss of face. Change is about leaving what happened in the past. People who are associated with the last version - the version that wasn't effective, or the one that's being superseded - are likely to have a defensive approach towards the change.When change involves a big shift of strategic direction, the people responsible for the previous direction dread the perception that they must have been wrong. Leaders can help people maintain dignity by celebrating those elements of the past that are worth honoring, and making it clear that the world has changed. That makes it easier to let go and move on.
6. Concerns about competence. Can I do it? Change is resisted when it makes people feel stupid. They might express skepticism about whether the new software version will work or whether digital journalism is really an improvement, but down deep they are worried that their skills will be obsolete. Leaders should over-invest in structural reassurance, providing abundant information, education, training, mentors, and support systems. A period of overlap, running two systems simultaneously, helps ease transitions.
7. More work. Here is a universal challenge. Change is indeed more work. Those closest to the change in terms of designing and testing it are often overloaded, in part because of the inevitable unanticipated glitches in the middle of change. Leaders should acknowledge the hard work of change by allowing some people to focus exclusively on it, or adding extra perks for participants (meals/incentives/valet/promotions etc). They should reward and recognize participants — and their families, too, who often make unseen sacrifices.
8. Ripple effects. Like tossing a pebble into a pond, change creates ripples, reaching distant spots in ever-widening circles. The ripples disrupt other departments, important customers, people well outside the venture or neighborhood, and they start to push back, rebelling against changes they had nothing to do with that interfere with their own activities. Leaders should enlarge the circle of stakeholders. They must consider all affected parties, however distant, and work with them to minimize disruption.
9. Past resentments. As long as everything is steady state, they remain out of sight. But the minute you need cooperation for something new or different, the ghosts spring into action. Old wounds reopen, historic resentments are remembered — sometimes going back many generations. Leaders should consider gestures to heal the past before sailing into the future.
10. Sometimes the threat is real. Now we get to true pain and politics. Change is resisted because it can hurt. When new technologies displace old ones, jobs can be lost; prices can be cut; investments can be wiped out. The best thing leaders can do when the changes they seek pose significant threat is to be honest, transparent, fast, and fair. For example, one big layoff with strong transition assistance is better than successive waves of cuts.

Most of the time people are not comfortable with change. Leaders can't always make people feel comfortable with change but they can minimize discomfort.Diagnosing the sources of resistance is the first step toward good solutions. And feedback from resistors can even be helpful in improving the process of gaining acceptance for change.