Change resistance and change agents

When you are adopting new strategies, you are changing the organization.  For strategic success, you need to anticipate resistance to change and be a change agent who drives change.  Following are thoughts from experts who have studied change about why organizations resist change and the attributes of effective change agents.

Why Organizations Resist Change
from The Way of Strategy by William Levinson

·         Social norms and expectations

·         Group cohesiveness

·         Fear of the unknown

·         Vested interests in the status quo

·         Ingrained habits

·         Status uncertainty; perception of threats to one’s current skills, status and autonomy

·         Networks of alliances

·         Perception of a threat to peoples’ careers

Attributes of Effective Change Agents
from The Leader-Manager by William Hitt

·         View change as a friend

·         Have power tools and know how to use them

·         Deal with both logical and psychological aspects of change

·         Establish a climate for change

·         Start the change process with themselves rather than with others

·         Do not force change, they facilitate it

·         Create their own enthusiasm

·         Let go of old ideas and experiment with alternatives

·         Seek out and accept criticism of their ideas

·         Get others to “buy into” their ideas for change