How to Reveal The Real Root of Change Resistance
A small utility company was rolling out mobile workforce management software to its linemen in the field. The project team had actively engaged the linemen as a key stakeholder group throughout the effort: they had collaborated with the linemen regarding how they would leverage the new system, they had actively listened to their feedback, and had worked to overcome their concerns. But heading into go live, resistance from the linemen to the new software was not only fierce but also at an all-time high. Hadn’t the project team done everything right? How had it gone so wrong?
In the current state, the linemen reported to the office each morning to collect their work orders for the day; they then used this information to load the right equipment onto the truck and to complete their assignments accordingly. With the new software, the linemen, now armed with a laptop, would receive their assignments from a dispatcher while in the field.
From the beginning of the project, there was strong resistance from the linemen to the new software. If they were unable to pull all of their work orders in the morning, how could they efficiently plan their routes? How would they know what parts to pull to load onto their trucks? The project team worked closely with the linemen and overcame these concerns, only to have the linemen not only continue to resist, but also to escalate their concerns to the level of safety risks. If they were to get into an accident, could the laptop become a projectile? Would laptops in the trucks be a distraction to safe driving?
After months of going around and around, enduring increasing frustration and tension as well as project risk, a project team member was finally able to uncover the root of the resistance. Through a trusted personal relationship and delicate questioning with a lineman, the project team member had uncovered that at the core of the resistance was fear. In this case, the fear of being exposed. The linemen did not know how to use computers.
Resistance to change can often be traced back to ego, a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance, and self-preservation. The root or real resistance behind the resistance. For the linemen, who would want to be the first to admit that they did not know how to use a computer? Exposing that could be embarrassing, shameful, or even scary. Once the real cause of the linemen’s resistance was uncovered and openly discussed, some of the linemen shared the fear of job loss; the new system required a skill that they did not have and they did not see a path for obtaining that new required skill.
At another utility, a project team was facing resistance to a move from traditional office spaces to an open office environment. The project team had successfully anticipated and addressed the fact that at this company, attaining an office instead of a cubicle was a cultural sign of achievement, however, resistance remained unexpectedly high. Employees with offices seemed unduly upset, even angry, that they would be moved into an open office environment. Further delicate and focused questioning revealed the true source of the resistance: overlooked was the memorabilia that some employees had accumulated over decades of service: the several hardhats from different projects, the collection of annual branded toy trucks, and the diplomas that were displayed in these offices, all cultural signals of their experience, knowledge, and wisdom that prompted more junior team members to look up to them, and which were a real source of pride. Again, the root of the resistance was related to ego and self-preservation. The resistance wasn’t really about “losing an office,” rather it was about losing a place to display personally important cultural symbols of a long and productive career. But the new open office environment provided no place to display them.
Are you facing resistance to your change program, but unable to identify the root cause? Take a closer look at what drives your stakeholders’ self-esteem, self-importance and instinct for self-preservation. Many times, the stated reasons for resistance are not the real reasons, because people are hesitant to share feelings that relate to perceived threats to their self-image, organizational status, or financial well-being. Some may even be unable to articulate that one or more of these things is the real cause of their anxiety and resistance. In many environments, admitting “I’m afraid I will look stupid in training, “I won’t be able to learn the new software,” or “I’ll lose my job” is not a culturally accepted response to change. In order to effectively overcome resistance, we have to understand the root of that resistance, which can be very different than the stated cause.
Through established trust, delicate questioning, and careful preservation of human dignity, we can uncover the root of resistance, and then work together with our stakeholders to overcome the real resistance in order to achieve change.
Contact ChangeStaffing to learn how our organizational change management consultants can help your organization discover the real root of resistance.
A special thanks to Lesa Lozano, organizational change management coach and consultant, for her thought leadership and for collaborating with us on this blog.