7 Reasons Why People Resist Change

Posted by James on December 12, 2011 in Leadership Development with No Comments Yet

Why Do People Resist Change?

Let’s be honest, at some point in our life we have been resistant to change for multiple reasons. Why people resist change for one or more reasons varies on the change at hand. Change is constant, nothing stays the same for very long these days but yet when people resist change (to the constant change of today) it can cause a lot of problems for team morale and a leader casting a new vision. If you have ever been resistant to change or have tried to implement a change to only have people resist that change then this post if for you. In this post I will cover 7 main reasons as to why people resist change and how you can counter act them.

The 7 Reasons Why People Resist Change

There are many more reasons people resist change than seven. But I have done some research and have identified the most common reasons. If you are trying to instigate a change then it would be very helpful upfront to know the 7 most common reasons people resist change so you can plan more effectively on the front end when rolling out the change. Here are the seven most common reasons why people resist change:

They flat out do not like the change
They are discomforted by the uncertainty of change
They are attached to culture / ways of doing things currently
They fear change
They had no say in the change
They lack conviction for the needed change
Believe the timing is wrong for the change to happen.

Each one of these seven reasons as to why people resist change can be drilled down further. But the truth is that these are all valid and many of us have had one or more of these reasons as to why we did not like a change that we have been through. A leader must navigate change effectively and carefully. Take the recent Netflix change that ended up costing them over a million of subscribers leaving and their stock price falling considerably. Netflix initiated a change that split the DVD portion into a different company, increased the price subscribers pay per month by over 60%, and expected people to be okay with that. The results of their change speak volumes of how to not initiate change and how quickly people resist change when they are discomforted by the change.

So How Do You Ensure People Won’t Resist Your Proposed Change?

A Harvard Business Review article by Kotter and Schlesinger provides six ways to manage why people resist change. They are as follows:

Education and communication. By educating and communicating the rationale behind the change it takes away the lack of information from the people who are / will be impacted by the change and creates a better understanding of the change. Netflix should of done this upfront to help steer away from the backlash they encountered.
Participation and involvement. People resist change outright when they don’t feel they had a say in the change. If you allow people to be an active participant in the change that will help them feel they are part of the change. They will not feel they are excluded from the rationale behind the change and give them a sense of ownership. This may slow down the process of the change but it can be well worth the added time to stay away from future backlash.
Facilitation and support. People resist change on a emotional level primarily, especially when they are not an active participant of the change. If you allow for facilitation and support it will help reduce anxiety and uncertainty for those being impacted. This step does have a financial cost of resources but can also help increase revenue down the line.
Negotiation and agreement. This step is singling out those potential people who will try and shoot down the change as soon as it arises. By pulling them in early on the process it can help reduce the resistance to change by negotiating and agreeing on details of the change. This can lead to watering down the key elements of the change however.
Manipulation and cooperation. If negotiating and coming to agreement is far from reality some may elect to “buy” support from people with power and giving then key roles in the change process. This step can have a major backlash however and can be seen as unethical. Use with caution.
Explicit and implicit coercion. This last step is perhaps the harshest approach. An example would be to threaten to fire those people who resist change. If the survival of the organization hangs in the balance of the change, this step is needed to get those who resist the change out of the picture. This step may come back to haunt you later so use with caution.

Closing Thoughts On Why People Resist Change

As you can see people resist change for many reasons. If you are planning to initiate a change, make sure that you identify both why people resist change upfront and how you can counter the opposition. People resist change out of emotion first usually, then logic. If you can address those two at the onset of the change then those people who resist change will reduce. People resist change, it is part of our nature. But don’t let people resist change because of poor execution on your part.