Top 10 reasons people resist change

During our projects for establishing sales management system we often come across people who cling to old approaches or ways even if they acknowledge they are not successful any more. 

We've realised it's all about change management and that people naturally resist change.

So I decided to write a few blogs on the top ten reasons people resist change, based on an article of A. J. Schuler, Psy. D.

1. THE RISK OF CHANGE IS SEEN AS GREATER THAN THE RISK OF STANDING STILL

Making a change requires a kind of leap of faith:  you decide to move in the direction of the unknown on the promise that something will be better for you.  But you have no proof.  Taking that leap of faith is risky, and people will only take active steps toward the unknown if they genuinely believe – and perhaps more importantly, feel – that the risks of standing still are greater than those of moving forward in a new direction.  

Making a change is all about managing risk.  If you are making the case for change, be sure to set out in stark, truthful terms why you believe the risk situation favors change.  Use numbers whenever you can, because we in the West pay attention to numbers.  At the very least, they get our attention, and then when the rational mind is engaged, the emotional mind (which is typically most decisive) can begin to grapple with the prospect of change.  But if you only sell your idea of change based on idealistic, unseen promises of reward, you won’t be nearly as effective in moving people to action.  The power of the human fight-or-flight response can be activated to fight for change, but that begins with the perception of risk.

When we present our sales teams new sales approaches and methods they are afraid of start practicing them because they fear failure. Except of our reassuring they have yet no other guarantee that this methods work. But what exactly do they have to loose?

2. PEOPLE FEEL CONNECTED TO OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE IDENTIFIED WITH THE OLD WAYWe are a social species.  We become and like to remains connected to those we know, those who have taught us, those with whom we are familiar – even at times to our own detriment.  Loyalty certainly helped our ancestors hunt antelope and defend against the aggressions of hostile tribes, and so we are hard wired, I believe, to form emotional bonds of loyalty, generally speaking.  If you ask people in an organization to do things in a new way, as rational as that new way may seem to you, you will be setting yourself up against all that hard wiring, all those emotional connections to those who taught your audience the old way - and that’s not trivial.  At the very least, as you craft your change message, you should make statements that honor the work and contributions of those who brought such success to the organization in the past, because on a very human but seldom articulated level, your audience will feel asked to betray their former mentors (whether those people remain in the organization or not). A little good diplomacy at the outset can stave off a lot of resistance. 

Times change and we must change too. This means that we must break up with established ways, tradition and people who bind us. Of course, in good faith - past has helped us become what we are, but it is time to write a new history. We should thank our long-time mentor (that could be ourselves), who brought us where we are today but we should take courage and go our way.

3. PEOPLE HAVE NO ROLE MODELS FOR THE NEW ACTIVITY

Never underestimate the power of observational learning.  If you see yourself as a change agent, you probably are something of a dreamer, someone who uses the imagination to create new possibilities that do not currently exist.  Well, most people don’t operate that way.  It’s great to be a visionary, but communicating a vision is not enough. Get some people on board with your idea, so that you or they can demonstrate how the new way can work. Operationally, this can mean setting up effective pilot programs that model a change and work out the kinks before taking your innovation “on the road.”  For most people, seeing is believing.  Less rhetoric and more demonstration can go a long way toward overcoming resistance, changing people’s objections from the “It can’t be done!” variety to the “How can we get it done?” category.

Sales approaches that we show our customers often encounter complaints that they are theoretical and can not be used in practice. This is only because they are not "tangible", at the beginning, when we are getting to know them. But once a seller takes the bull by the horns, he starts to wonder how he has been selling till this moment at all. It is therefore very important to help put theory in practice and that's what we aim to do.

... more coming up soon.

"You can't expect to meet the challenges of today with yesterday's tools and expect to be in business tomorrow."author unknown, unfortunately ;)

Tamara Ćetković

Consultant, Coach & Project Manager