10 Easy Ways to Resist Change
Having worked with many owners, leaders, managers and employees and a theme that keeps coming up is how to deal with change. The standard way of dealing with change in most workplaces is to get really upset and run around in great distress. Many people dwell on how things used to be and clutch desperately onto the old ways of doing things. In one business where I had to change the culture, everyone told me “but, that’s the way we have always done it.” My response was the same as well. Doing that way is why the business is failing and we need to change how it is done so everyone has a job in 6 months. This dynamic usually happens because leaders and organizations do not have the systems in place to welcome change or view it as an opportunity for growth.
Many people fear change. Change can be scary and daunting but what I’ve noticed affects workplaces negatively is how they deal with the situation. People don’t consciously try to complicate things, it’s just that they don’t know what to do and very often their leaders aren’t helping them through the challenging times. The next time you’re experiencing change in your organization make sure that you do the following things to make it more difficult.
- Pretend it’s not happening. The put your head in the sand and hope the change blows over.
2. Stubbornly keep doing what you’ve always done. No matter what is said and done, just keep doing the it way you’ve always done and hopefully no one will notice.
3. Whatever you do, don’t change your perspective. Stay on your course. Do not look at anything from another perspective.
4. Complain to as many people as you can. My favorite. Be the poison in the water. Why not, the squeaky wheel gets the attention.
5. Don’t buy-in to new ways of doing things. Blockbuster loves this one. The world is changing and don’t buy into the hype that it is changing.
6. Actively resist doing anything differently. No matter what do NOT try anything different.
7. Stay nervous at all times. Be that long tailed cat in a room full of rockers. By being nervous you can spread some panic to those that do want to change.
8. Run around aimlessly. Like the old FedEx commercial. Busy being busy. This way people may think you are changing, when you are really just spinning your tires in mud.
9. Feed into the hysteria as often as possible. Find others with the same fears as you and really build the hysteria- just like the media does.
10. Don’t offer any solutions. Remember you need to be the problem and not the solution. Giving a solution means you are open to the change and that is not good.
I know I have seen all these 10 things being done withing businesses that are trying to change for the better. But, if you do these ten things, you’ll find that you will reverse the rotation of the earth and everything will go back to how it was. Realistically, you will have little to no impact on the changes going on which really leaves it up to you to decide how you’re going to deal with what’s actually happening. You have the ability to take even the worst situation and focus it any way you want. You choose whether the change is a tragedy or an opportunity. It’s just like when you want to support your point of view, you can always find someone to support it on the Internet, but maybe not support it in real life. By resisting the change, you will actually cause change, in that you will have to look for another J.O.B. If you are the owner and resist change, then you will probably have to close the doors to your business.
The world changes. Your customers preferences changes. Buying habits change. Technology changes. Economics change. Regulations change. And so much more. Smart leaders expect change and need to plan for it in order to grow their businesses.
What will you do to welcome change and use it to grow and succeed?
Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops and training. Focusing on the lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.
Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today. #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday