Challenging Resistance to Change The Journal of Applied

Challenging “Resistance to Change” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science Eric B. Dent Susan Galloway Goldberg presented by: Belinda, Deborah, Pamela, & Stephanie

Perspective Shift People do NOT resist change WHAT?

What are people resisting? 1. Loss of Status 2. Loss of pay 3. Loss of comfort 4. The unknown 5. Management ideas that are not feasible 6. Being dictated to

How Resistance to Change Theory began Began with Kurt Lewin perspectives handed down in two ways; ● shared commitment to beliefs ● exemplars (basic material all students are taught about a subject)

What do the Textbooks Say? Kreitner management must foresee & neutralize resistance Griffin; Aldag & Stearns; Schermerhorn Causes of resistance, Strategies to overcome resistance Employees can be manipulated by withholding information Dubrin & Ireland Change is due to; fear of poor outcomes personally inconvenienced fear of the unknown

Getting back to Lewin….

Reframing our Approach or Asking More Beautiful Questions Am I soliciting participation from all stakeholders? Do I understand group dynamics and their impact on the change system? Have I removed known obstacles? Have I considered the effect of change on social aspects of employees? Is this really resistance to change or just resistance to bad management decisions? Are there ways to channel resistance constructively

Connection to Leadership Because management deals mostly with the status quo and leadership deals mostly with change, in the next century we are going to have to try to become much more skilled at creating leaders. John P. Kotter