By Paul Plotczyk

Woodrow Wilson said, “If you want to make enemies, try to change something.”

Anyone who has been involved in leading a change initiative might agree with that sentiment. But clearly not all people view change as negative.

In fact research shows, and our experience confirms, that any significant organizational change will produce the “rule of thirds.” That is, roughly,

• One-third of the staff will be excited about the change;
• One-third will take a wait-and-see attitude; and
• One-third will oppose the change.

Why do People Resist Change?

Based on our experience in change management, we have found that people resist change for a variety of reasons. The responses below are the most commonly heard when we survey employees:

• Don't understand the reason for it
• Lack of information
• Don't perceive a need to change
• Feel they have already changed (enough)
• Don't know what it means for them personally
• Don't see clear direction
• Fear loss of power, prestige, money, status, friends or work
• Are reluctant to give up something that is comfortable and familiar
• Were not asked for input about the change
• Fear that they may not be able to learn enough to be successful
• Have been hurt/betrayed by previous changes
• Don't believe anything will really change.

How do People Change?

An early model of change developed by Kurt Lewin (1951) described change as a three-stage process.

1. Unfreezing: The first stage he called "unfreezing". This is where people's beliefs, values, behaviors are disturbed and defense mechanisms are challenged.

2. Confusion: This is often the most difficult and confusing phase of change. There is no comfort in the old way of being nor is there a clear picture of the new reality. Marilyn Ferguson describes this phase well.

“It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear . . . . It's like being between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to.”

3. Refreezing: The third and final stage Lewin called "refreezing". The new way of being is solidifying, the confusion lifts and comfort returns. Linus has a new blanket to hold onto.

Management's Role in the Personal Change Process

Whether employees perceive change with fear and anxiety or with excitement and confidence, or somewhere in between, depends partially on the individual's psychological makeup, partially on the specific nature of the change and partially on management's actions.

Of the three factors, management's actions is really the only one that can be leveraged to make the change process easier and more effective.

Management's goal is to create an environment in which people can move from apprehension and anger to acceptance and internalization of change as quickly and painlessly as possible.

4 Steps to Easing the Pain of Change

There are no cookie cutter answers to breaking down the resistance to change but the following 4 steps provide some guidelines:

Step 1: Identify the concerns of the key stakeholders. What are people afraid of? What is “keeping them up at night?”

Step 2: Craft a strategy to address those concerns and create a critical mass of support for the organizational change.

Early measures will be directed at overcoming the initial apprehension, denial, anger, and resentment (the unfreezing) but gradually the strategy should evolve into a program that supports compliance, acceptance, and internalization (the refreezing.)

Step 3: Translate the strategy into an effective implementation plan. Must include sufficient feedback loops to ensure that resistance to the initiative is decreasing and the critical mass of support is increasing.

Step 4: Continually monitor, measure, and adjust. Managing change is complex and it will require frequent mid-course adjustments to achieve optimal results.

It is also important to remember that the process of accepting and internalizing change usually takes more time than we expect.

The Bad News

The bad news is that helping individuals overcome their resistance to change is a challenging, sometimes frustrating, often thankless role.

The Good News

The good news is that a little success in this arena goes a long way. Studies have shown that significant change can occur in an organization if it is guided by senior management and only ten percent of the population are committed to the change. Once 20% support is achieved, the change is unstoppable.