Reasons why people resist change

							 10 reasons
 why people
resist change
Reason # 1
 The person is
afraid of losing
    income
  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.



Source
Rosabeth Moth Kanter.
http://blogs.hbr.org/kanter/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang.html
         When people feel that a business change is
         a threat to their own job security, that the
         change will eliminate the need for their job,
         they will resist change.




Source
http://www.uthscsa.edu/gme/documents/chiefres/Change%20Leadership/Top%20reasons%20for%20change%20resistance.pdf
    One explanation for the status quo bias is
    aversion to loss.

    People are more concerned about the
    risk of loss than they are excited by
    the prospect of gain.



Source
https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Hidden_flaws_in_strategy_1288
Reason # 2
 The person is
afraid of losing
     power
   There is considerable revenue associated
   with the current successful model. Careers
   have been built on its growth. Any change to
   a new model threatens those revenues and
   those reputations.



Source
Paul Sloane.
http://voices.yahoo.com/success-enemy-innovation-7117244.html?cat=3
           Leading reason for manager
              resistance to change


                       Fear of losing power.




Source
http://www.uthscsa.edu/gme/documents/chiefres/Change%20Leadership/Top%20reasons%20for%20change%20resistance.pdf
       Threats to power and influence are
       one of the most important sources of
       resistance to change.




Source
Zaltman and Duncan, 1977.
Hayes, John: The Theory and Practice of Change Management, p. 130.
Reason # 3
The person is
afraid of extra
work pressure
Source: http://www.janbosch.com/Jan_Bosch/Presentations_files/ESA2010-Keynote.pdf
             When people feel that a certain change
             requires that they work more than they
             do now – and already now work under
             high pressure – they will resist change.




Source
http://www.uthscsa.edu/gme/documents/chiefres/Change%20Leadership/Top%20reasons%20for%20change%20resistance.pdf
  Reason # 4
 The person is afraid
of lacking skills to do
      new things
         Change is resisted when it makes people
         feel stupid.

         People are worried that their skills will be
         obsolete, that they will lack the skills that
         are needed.


Source
http://blogs.hbr.org/kanter/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1266407/why_do_people_resist_change.html?cat=3
http://www.change-management.com/Top-5-reasons-employees-resist%20v9.pdf
    If what they did in the past worked well for
    them, they may resist changing their
    behaviour out of fear that they will not
    achieve as much in the future.




Source
http://blog.globalblackswan.com/2010/07/5-of-5-why-we-resist-change.html
 Reason # 5
The person lacks
awareness of the
need for change
   When people are not aware of the underlying
   business need for change, they will resist
   change.




Source
http://www.change-management.com/Top-5-reasons-employees-resist%20v9.pdf
  Reason # 6
 The person thinks
that nothing can be
      changed
      ”The most frozen layer in any organization, I think,
      is the people with experience who think they know
      best, who believe that nothing can be changed,
      and who typically exhibit a not-invented-here
      syndrome.
                                                      Ravi Kant, Tata Motors




Source:
Kumra, Gautan: ”Leading Change: An Interview with the managing of Tata Motors.”
mckinseyquarterly.com, January 2007.
 Reason # 7
 The person has
no willingness to
     change
  Some people, hesitant to try new routines,
  express an unwillingness to learn anything new.

  They may say, ”I already know all that I need
  to know.”



Source
http://blog.globalblackswan.com/2010/07/5-of-5-why-we-resist-change.html
  Reason # 8
The person does not
understand what the
 change means for
     him or her
            When people do not have the answer to
            the question ”What’s in it for me?”, they
            will resist change.




Source
http://www.uthscsa.edu/gme/documents/chiefres/Change%20Leadership/Top%20reasons%20for%20change%20resistance.pdf
  Stakeholders often resist change because they
  do not understand the implications it may
  have for them.

  Such misunderstandings may lead them to
  perceive that the change will cost them more
  than they will gain.


Source
Hayes, John: The Theory and Practice of Change Management, p. 130.
 Reason # 9
The person does
not believe in the
     leader
        People resist change when they do not
        feel that a particular solution is the best
        approach to fix the problem.




Source
http://www.uthscsa.edu/gme/documents/chiefres/Change%20Leadership/Top%20reasons%20for%20change%20resistance.pdf
     Misunderstandings are most likely to arise
     when trust is lacking between the
     person(s) initiating the change and the
     stakeholders who feel that they will be
     affected by it.



Source
Hayes, John: The Theory and Practice of Change Management, p. 130.
 Reason # 10
Company culture is
 hostile to change
  Fact is, most businesses were never built to change -
  they were built to do one thing exceedingly well and
  highly efficiently - forever.

  That’s why entire industries can get caught out by
  change - industries like big pharma, publishing,
  recorded music and the major U.S. airlines.

                                                    Gary Hamel


Source
http://blogs.wsj.com/management/2009/06/01/why-companies-fail-part-i/
         To be efficient                            To be creative
Plan                                      Let things emerge

Stick to your knitting                    Think outside the box

Exploit what you know                     Explore what you don’t know




Source
Govindarajan, Vijay & Trimble, Chris: 10 Rules for Strategic Innovators, p. 3.
             Creativity   Equality
 Curiosity                             Helpful
             Freedom       Honesty
Experimentation                      Forgiving
                          Love
             Variation           Friendship
  Daring



   Ambition                          Tradition
          Individualism   Family
Competition                          Discipline
         Dominance        Conformity
  Control                          Security
           Power            Clean
      Even when stakeholders intellectually
      understand the need for change they,
      sometimes, are emotionally unable to
      make the transition.




Source
Hayes, John: The Theory and Practice of Change Management, p. 131.
Examples of passive
and active resistance
 to change behavior
          Examples of passive
     resistance to change behavior
          Verbal                     Non-verbal
The persons ignores /         The person shows no
avoids, for example by        interest, for example by
  being silent.                 paying no attention.
  playing things down as if     being absent.
  they were unimportant.        being sick.
  playing stupid.               being tired.
  driving discussions into
  ridiculousness.
  talking about
  unimportant matters.
   The Titanic received 6 warnings of ice on the day
   of the collision.

   They were all ignored by the wireless operator,
   who was preoccupied with transmitting passenger
   messages and by the crew, who were focused on
   breaking the speed record.



Source
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/04/3d_business_lessons_from_the_t.html
          Examples of active
    resistance to change behavior

        Verbal            Non-verbal
The person          The person
  argues against.     creates disputes.
  communicates        creates rumours.
  stubbornly.         creates intrigues.
  threathens.         builds alliances.
           Examples of
 resistance to change expressions
We just don’t have time for that.
We don’t have enough resources to do that.
We’re not ready for that at this point.
Do we really need it?
It’s much too risky.
We have already discussed something similar
a long time ago. Forget it.
Talk to John about it. It’s not my area.
I am quite sure, it wouldn’t work.
It sounds good theoretically, but it would never work
in practice.
We are too big / too small.
It’s too early / too late for that.
                  Active
                followers



  Reactive                   Proactive
Resist change               Want change
         First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you.
         Then they fight you. Then you win.
                                            Mahatma Gandhi




Source
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi