Body: ôResistance to change may be active or passive, overt or covert, individual or organised, aggressive or timidààà and on occasions totally justified.ö Sadly most significant change fails to meet the expectations and targets of the proposers. The failure is given the catchall name ôresistanceö, yet resistance can be principled and creative as well as from vested interest. Top management is frequently unreasonable in its expectations and time scale, forgetting the process it went through when it decided to make the change. An effective change manager will prepare an organisation for change in the early stages of project definition and stakeholder review, by taking managers through a similar sales process and responding to their apparent resistance: the ôcreative conflict.ö This process is likely to improve the project definition and buy in. It will also ensure that it is clear the moment resistance becomes ôvested interest.ö It is unrealistic to expect an independent change manager to tackle vested interest resistance but the change director can use his or her intervention as a signal to the organisation û such interventions should be few but telling. An independent change manager is a cross between a foil and a lightning conductor û the foil ensuring that positive energy is deflected to the right place, the lightening conductor removing negative energy from the organisation. Avoiding failure: managing resistance Resistance is a key element in why change fails. A recent informal UK survey of 120 government transformation programmes identified that: ò 15% achieved their objectives ò A further 20% failed to achieve their objectives but were nevertheless regarded as satisfactory ò 65% were unsatisfactory. A subsequent discussion forum on ecademy.com identified 7 key reasons why change fails. (The list is virtually identical to one made by Kotter at Harvard 15 years ago). 1. The organisation had not been clear about the reasons for the change and the overall objectives. This plays into the hands of any vested interests. 2. They had failed to move from talking to action quickly enough. This leads to mixed messages and gives resistance a better opportunity to focus. 3. The leaders had not been prepared for the change of management style required to manage a changed business or one where change is the norm. ôChange programmes" fail in that they are seen as just that: "programmers". The mentality of "now we're going to do change and then we'll get back to normalö
piece
is
an
abstract
triptych
that
I
found
while
I
was
in
Atlanta
buying
religious
paintings
The
piece
was
called
Guardian
Angel
and
I
love
it
My
patrons
fell
in
love
with
it
as
well
They
have
asked
me
to
track
down
the
artist
and
see
if
he
has
anymore
religious
paintings
available
The
only
religious
paintings
that
I
actually
do
not
buy
are
ones
that
reflect
the
image
of
Jesus
on
the
cross
I
don’t
have
a
problem
with
them
some
of
them
are
extremely
well
done
and
would
more
than
likely
sell
well
but
my
investors
made
it
very
clear
when
they
financed
the
gallery
that
I
would
not
put
that
image
into
it
PPPPP
683
Ajello
Candles
The
motto
of
the
Ajello
Candle
Company
is
“It’s
better
to
light
a
candle
than
to
curse
the
darkness”
This
candle
making
company
has
been
in
business
since
1775
The
business
has
been
family
owned
for
seven
generations
The
candles
from
Ajello’s
are
well
known
for
their
beauty
and
quality
While
they
make
more
candles
now
than
in
1775
their
dedication
to
quality
and
to
customers
has
never
changed
The
Ajello
Candle
Company
was
founded
by
Rafael
Ajello
an
Italian
painter
He
was
also
a
beekeeper
so
he
tried
his
hand
at
using
bees
wax
to
create
candles
He
worked
hard
to
create
a
formula
that
worked
well
The
formula
combined
with
his
outstanding
artistic
ability
lead
to
the
birth
of
the
Ajello
Candle
Company
In
1785
the
company
earned
the
honor
of
creating
all
the
candles
for
the
Vatican
He
and
his
wife
ran
the
business
keeping
their
children
involved
in
the
processes
from
an
early
age
As
time
went
on
their
children
and
grandchildren
kept
the
business
running
as
well
as
passed
the
family
business
on
to
their
children
By
1862
the
company
had
established
itself
as
a
leader
among
the
candle
making
industry
They
had
also
added
perfumes
and
many
.
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