People and change the ‘problem’ of resistance?
Perhaps the greatest challenge of all comes with the awareness that managing change includes managing the reactions to that change. Unfortunately, change frequently is introduced without considering its psychological effect on others in the organizations particularly those who have not been part of the decision to make the change: those who arrive on Monday only to learn ‘from now on, it’s all different’. Further, when reaction are taken into account, they often are lumped under ‘resistance’ to change, a pejorative phrase that conjures up stubbornness, obduracy, traditionalism, ‘just saying no’. It seems fair to state, however, that, if the reactions to change are not anticipated – and managed – the change process will be needlessly painful and perhaps unsuccessful.