It would be easy to assume that “people always resist change.” Say the word “change,” and many people dig in their heels. They like the old, the familiar, the routine and are not enthusiastic about new ideas. For many, “new” is bad by definition.
But is new always viewed as bad by employees? Of course not. A change initiative is always designed to bring the business – and typically the people in it as well – to a better state than currently exists. If that is the case, why would people resist? Often, they can see that they’ll be better off in the end. They should be thrilled with the change and throw themselves behind it 100%, right?
Wrong. The truth of the matter is, people often resist change, even when they know it will lead to a good result. That is because people don’t resist change as such: people resist the chaos that gets created when moving from the current state to the future state. This is actually what is going on:
What kind of chaos does change bring? Pain, uncertainty, fear, additional work, new roles, changed responsibilities. The list is a long one. The objective, then, is to manage change to minimize both the chaos and the feelings people have about the chaos – and still bring about the end result you are looking for.