Do people really resist change? Rod Willis

Do people really resist change?

[email protected] @RodWillisGTC +44 (0)7788 457 202

#changedebate #projectclimateRTC

This session will cover

•  Evidence based research into Resistance to Change, from a Leaders’ Perspective (2012 - highlights)

•  Further practitioner research exploring The Implications for Leadership and Change Programmes

•  Closing with What to do starting Monday morning

–  Integrating these insights into the way you can Lead projects, programmes and the Organisation for greater performance.

Researching Resistance to Change?

•  70% of all change initiatives fail (HBR).http://hbr.org/product/hbr-s-10-must-reads-on-change-management-with-feat/an/12599-PBK-ENG

•  Resistance to Change is often cited as the number one reason why a change programme has not delivered to the level that was anticipated.

•  Organisations need to respond to turbulent market conditions. Needing to achieve more with fewer resources is a common theme we hear daily in the media, be this public, private or non-profit sectors.

The Prime Research context

•  Sixteen change leaders (past and present) via semi-structured interviews created the prime data.

•  Combined experiences spanning > 55 organisations.

•  Operating within Oil and Gas, Professional and Financial Services, Public sector, including two District Councils and a Police Collaboration Programme.

Ensuring a safe environment to enable Learning and Change

2:Rela6onship Health or Culture

(RTC: 10, 11, 12, 15)

Leading and Managing Individual and Group Transi6on

6:Group Dynamics (RTC: 04, 07, 09, 18)

5:Personal Dynamics (RTC: 06, 08, 13, 14)

Leading and Managing Change

1: Purpose (RTC: 01)

3:Communica6on (RTC: 05)

4:Change Dynamics (RTC: 02, 16, 17)

RTC: Represents the “Resistance to Change” code

Research findings

18 Resistance to Change symptoms are occurring in

three main areas. Distilled from 518 separate statements.

Leadership

Motivation

© Assentire Ltd

PURPOSE

Culture

Model of the Organisation

Leadership

Motivation

© Assentire Ltd

PURPOSE

Culture

Lack of a clear Purpose

Fear of failure, Personal “ROI”, conflict with an individual’s

“System” and/or career objectives

Low awareness regarding Leadership of Transformation and Individual Transition.

Different Modes of Management perceived different realities

Staff involvement, Tipping Point, Assimilation capacity and Change-cycle (Transition Psychology)

Old habits die hard, perceived excessive work, present system is OK, outdated life-cycle view “Group-Think”

Appropriate Process and Content

Sins of the past, low trust in the leadership, limited “soft skills” awareness in the leadership, inadequate training or support provided

Self-Determination Theory (SDT)Purpose, Mastery, Autonomy

Past symptoms of RTC

HARDINGHAM, A. 2004. The Coach's Coach: Personal Development for Personal

Developers Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

environment

behaviour

capability

beliefs

identity

beyond identity Increasing

psychological “depth”

Increasing Scope

‘flexibility’Where/When; someone is, literally; the places and

physical contexts in which he/she exists and operates

What; someone does

How; Skills; what someone is capable of

Why; Fundamental principles and perceptions which someone holds about life and how it should be lived

Who; someone believes him/herself to be, e.g." I'm a tough MD; I’m a caring father; I’m a loyal friend

Our connection with humankind generally and the rest of our world (and beyond!)

Logical Levels and ‘flexibility’ another way to slice the data

Ensuring a safe environment to enable Learning and Change

2:Rela6onship Health Or Culture

(RTC: 10, 11, 12, 15)

Leading and Managing Individual and Group Transi6on

6:Group Dynamics (RTC: 04, 07, 09, 18)

5:Personal Dynamics (RTC: 06, 08, 13, 14)

Leading and Managing Change

1: Purpose (RTC: 01)

3:Communica6on (RTC: 05)

4:Change Dynamics (RTC: 02*, 16, 17)

RTC: Represents the “Resistance to Change” code

environment

behaviour

capability

beliefs

iden6ty

beyond iden6ty

The majority of the Symptoms are occurring in a domain of knowledge (Psychological Levels) only a few ever encounter. This may be why 60 years on, we still only have achieved a 30% satisfaction rate for major change initiatives.

Change Programme Implications Is there a relationship between

Leaders and Managers ability to work at a deeper psychological

level (consciously or otherwise), and being able to bring about

successful change?

Leadership

Motivation

© Assentire Ltd

PURPOSE

Culture

Lack of a clear Purpose with alignment at ALL 4 levels

Fear of failure, Personal “ROI”, conflict with an individual’s

“System” and/or career objectives

Low awareness regarding Leadership of Transformation and Individual Transition.

Different Modes of Management perceived different realities

Old habits die hard, perceived excessive work, present system is OK, outdated life-cycle view “Group-Think”

Appropriate Process and Content

Sins of the past, low trust in the leadership, limited “soft skills” awareness in the leadership, inadequate training or support provided

Self-Determination Theory (SDT)Purpose, Mastery, Autonomy

We generally focus above the line!

Staff involvement, Tipping Point, Assimilation capacity and Change-cycle (Transition Psychology)

The Implications for Leadership and Change Programmes

•  Human Mo6va6on •  Modes of Management •  Interpersonal Skills •  Other key areas (see supplementary informa6on)

•  Culture -‐ ’Climate’ & Life-‐cycle (In supplement) •  Change requires Learning, •  Personal and Group Dynamics

And how this ALL impacts the Organisa4on during Change

Human Motivation (DRIVE)

Drive

Purpose Mastery Autonomy

Our Business Operating System does not match the evidenced-based researchIntrinsic Motivators are often not integrated in how the Organisation sees work.

Extrinsic Motivation does have some value, it however is not enough!

Human Motivation (DRIVE)

hbps://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_mo6va6on 18 minute Video for later

Will only use max 120 seconds (Video edi6ng s6ll to be completed RW)

Modes of Management

Modes of Management

Contributor Achiever Integrator

Doing what's asked by the organisation

Doing more than what's asked by the

organisation

Going beyond the organisation while

integrating the other modes

Modes of Management

Performance Focus

Individual Team Organisation

Active Contributor

Doing what's asked by the organisation

Aligned Achiever

Doing more than what's asked by the organisation

Adaptable Integrator

Going beyond the organisation

while integrating the other modes

© Assentire Ltd

What ‘modes’ are dominant today?

Interpersonal Skills Needed

People

Compatible Teams

Managing Conflict

Managing Resistance

Greater Innovation, Resilience, Learning

and Performance

Greater constructive challenge, creating

new possibilities and more robust options

Greater readiness to embrace a changing

future. More comfortable dealing

with uncertainty

Jumping up a level

Modes of Management

Drive

People

UK productivity is 21% lower than the rest of the G71

Estimated £19bn wasted each year due to poor management practice2

Megatrends: are UK organisations getting better at managing their people3

1 Statistical Bulletin: International Comparisons of Productivity – Final Estimates, 2012, ONS, 20 February 20142 Leadership and management in the UK – The key to sustainable growth, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, July 20123 Are UK organisations getting better at managing their people? CIPD, December 2014

Change Management

exists within a broader

National Context also!

Managing Change / Re-organisationOrganisations need to respond to turbulent market conditions. Needing to achieve more with fewer resources is a common theme we hear daily in the media, be this public, private or non-profit sectors.

“Managing resistance is difficult because it is centred on human factors, for which skills and experience in organisations are in limited supply. Most managers and business professionals are products of the prevailing management paradigm, one that has not significantly evolved since the beginning of the twentieth century. This mind-set emphasised the financial and structural aspects of organisations over the human aspects and it is therefore ill-equipped to deal with human resistance.”

(Jones and Recardo, 2013)

JONES, D. J. & RECARDO, R. J. 2013. Leading and Implementing Business Change Management:Making Change Stick in the Contemporary Organization: Taylor & Francis.

Are people resistant to change?Consider how our mind-sets influence us•  is it a perspective we hold of others?•  what might Emotional Intelligence (EI) have to offer here?•  is it the ‘system’ that is resistant to change?

Why haven’t we improved our ability to change

in over 60 years?

I wonder, have we been pulling the wrong levers!

What to do starting Monday

Ensure your leadership (including yourself) is aware and has the skills and motivation to manage the following domains.

Motivation, Interpersonal and Modes of Management, all operating in an effective climate, that will enable what you need to be created and sustained.

Modes of Management

Contributor Achiever Integrator

People

Compatible Teams Managing Conflict Managing Resistance

Drive

Purpose Mastery Autonomy

Requires Integrative Leadership

Successful Organisational Change

Operating in different contexts. Take into account Individual, Group and Organisational Dynamics as a minimum to have some chance of success

A three axis metaphor Modes of Management

behaviours that help

Motivational understanding helps

Interpersonal skills help

Modes of Managementbehaviours that hinder

Limited Motivationalunderstanding hinders Limited Interpersonal

skills hinder

Bring your Rubik Cube into Work

The Journey and Dance of Change

Play Video hbp://goo.gl/IJ5ivv

To close UK Prac66oner Research Project Less than 15 minutes of your 6me for 30 ques6ons


#changedebate

A free report for all apm delegates today Be able to know how your Project Climate compares to a representa6ve ‘norm’ group

hbp://dopeoplereallyresistchange.info hbp://goo.gl/Y3Zojc

#projectclimateRTC

Supplementary Informa6on


Life-cycle different contexts

Different times require different thinking and action to remain effective.

EVERY change programme operates within this reality of dynamic and multilevel contexts.

Ignoring this FACT will induce what may be experienced as RTC

!

Misses the point

Identifies, can follow simple

procedures

Combines, describes, lists,

can perform serial skills

Analyses, contrasts and

compares, explains causes,

relates and applies

Creates, formulates, theorises,

generalises, hypothesises and reflects

Pre-structural Uni-structural Multi-structural Relational Extended abstract

Quantitative phase

Qualitative phase

Stru

ctu

re o

f Ob

serv

ed L

earn

ing

Ou

tco

mes

Bas

ed u

pon

Jo

hn

Big

gs S

OLO

Tax

on

om

y

Not competent One relevant aspect

Several relevant independent aspects

Integrated into a structure

Generalised to a new domain

Different stages of understanding

We do not learn and understand new

information, in the same way, or at the same pace!


This has direct implications for the Change plan.

Is my Ecosystem

OK?

Is my investment

worthwhile?Does it

support my sense of

Self?

Positives attributes of

today maintained?

Is there time to achieve the

Outcome?

What is my situation?

Is it sustainable?

Can I See, Hear, & Feel

it?

My Outcome

Individuals and Groups process

change, using one or more of the elements

in the image, and often not even aware they

are doing so.


Personal & Group Dynamic

Resistant to Change or lack of understanding?

Our work is informed by the System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK). This is the culmination of Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s lifelong work. It is an effective theory of management that provides a framework of thought and action for any leader wishing to transform and create a thriving organization, with the aim for everybody to win.

By management appropriately applying the principles and practices of SoPK, a business can simultaneously reduce costs through reducing waste, rework, staff attrition and litigation, while increasing quality, customer loyalty, worker satisfaction and, ultimately, profitability.

SoPK ties together Dr. Deming’s seminal theories and teachings on quality, management and leadership into four interrelated areas: appreciation of;

a system, knowledge of variation, theory of knowledge and psychology.

By using SoPK as a foundation philosophy, you will start to see an organisation and change management through new eyes.

Source: https://deming.org/theman/theories/profoundknowledge