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My graduate nonprofit class spent a great deal of time today talking
about change. It got me thinking about how change can be harnessed, how
people react to it, study it and how the concept of it is used
everywhere from altering school board decisions to winning presidential
elections.
Human beings are
naturally resistant to change. We are creatures of habit and crave the
comfortable security of our same-old, same-old comfort zones.
I’ve written before
about the changes that the public relations industry is going through
and how we must either adapt or be left behind. This post delves a
little deeper into the process an individual (PR pro or otherwise) must
go through when confronting change on a large scale, whether they are
taking on a new client, electing a new president, accepting a new
position or simply deciding that maybe your old ways of doing things
are a little outdated and need a face-lift.
There
are a couple things that one must take into consideration first, when
contemplating a large-scale change within their current organization.
Create readiness.
NEVER spring a sudden change upon staff or clients. You set yourself up
for failure by doing this and may find yourself the victim of mutiny
(or as it is called in the civilized world, a hostile takeover).
Show, don’t tell.
Provide real examples; show the discrepancies between what works and
what doesn’t. Having examples of successful organizations or firms that
implemented similar changes are a huge plus and a strong motivational
tool for those on the fence. Let them see how they will benefit and
then on the flip side, provide examples of those which have remained
stuck, with little innovation. The more extreme the distance between
the two examples, the better tool this will be.
Okay,
so you have implemented your changes. Excited, you expect big things
but there is just one problem, not everyone is on board. Now what?
Overcoming resistance
There are three types of resistance to change. Cognitive, Emotional and Behavioral.
Cognitive
resistance usually manifests itself in the most frustrating way. It is
hard to identify and can be a real challenge when trying to educate
your clients/friends/constituency or whatever. This is the person who
smiles and nods and then politely ignores everything you have to say.
Emotional resistance
has deeper roots and is harder to identify, but has some telling
signals. It is generally based on years of decision-making and
deep-seated convictions which will cause a person to shout, cry or
become overwhelmed. It can be tough to remain calm, because an
emotional person will look for you to be reactionary. Don't play that
game. You won't win. Just be steady and tow the line.
Behavioral
is the easiest resistance to spot - usually because the person is
either screaming in your face, or if you are really lucky, throwing
garbage or animal parts on you. Do not engage in retaliation. EVER. You
will never appear to be the victor. As with those who cry and scream,
remain calm, walk away and keep your finger's crossed that eventually
they will come to at least agree to disagree without any obvious
sabotage.
So in light of all this, what do
you do? Here is some information that will hopefully help you get
through it, without having a nervous breakdown.
My
place of employment is fairly resistant to change. It is still run
primarily by men in their 50's who look at me like I've grown a second
head when I start talking about social networking and blogs. To be
fair, they like the idea of it all, they just don't really GET it, or
how it can help their bottom line. Anyways....
There are three stages of change, much like the stages of grief. My professor
did an awesome job of communicating the idea to us using the analogy of
a sky-diver. First you make a decision, get over your fear, whatever.
Then you have to go to the place and go through the safety course and
then actually get on the plane.
Lastly you have to jump. That's a big one, involving a huge range of
cognitive, emotional and behavioral sparks that all have to come
together in your brain just right for you to actually get out the door
of that airplane.
The first stage, oddly enough is the ending stage.
This is where you are acknowledging that the way things have always
been done is coming to an end. In my industry and many others this is
known as the "changing of the guard".
It
