Donna's Blog
Are YOU resistant to change?
- Details
- 05 April 2016
Apparently everyone is somewhat resistant to change. When you flat out ask people however, they typically don't see themselves as change resistant. I know this has been true of me in the past. I have always thought of myself as open, flexible and adaptable.
This week I am vacationing in Hawaii and it's a place my husband and I love coming to. This is our fourth trip in 25 years and we have some favourite haunts that we visit each time.
We love the shirts at Margaritaville and had been cheerfully discussing which ones we would buy this time. We were so disappointed to discover the store is no longer open on Waikiki.
Never mind! We will go down to the international market place and grab a couple of daggy Hawaiian shirts and some souvenirs for friends and family.
Alas! It's closed for refurbishment and reopening next August.
It seems like a first world problem to be saying we were crushed... standing on the main drag of Waikiki.... in the sunshine.... in paradise. But we were. We felt a little lost and confused that two stalwarts were no longer available to us.
On our way back to our hotel we lamented how things were changing and it just wasn't the same and that got me thinking about change in general and how we can sometimes be hard on people because they "just don't get it" or they are resisting when in fact, dealing with change often leaves even the best intentioned people lost, confused and disoriented.
What I need right now, and what I reckon would be useful generally with change, is the new or alternative being:
This week I am vacationing in Hawaii and it's a place my husband and I love coming to. This is our fourth trip in 25 years and we have some favourite haunts that we visit each time.
We love the shirts at Margaritaville and had been cheerfully discussing which ones we would buy this time. We were so disappointed to discover the store is no longer open on Waikiki.
Never mind! We will go down to the international market place and grab a couple of daggy Hawaiian shirts and some souvenirs for friends and family.
Alas! It's closed for refurbishment and reopening next August.
It seems like a first world problem to be saying we were crushed... standing on the main drag of Waikiki.... in the sunshine.... in paradise. But we were. We felt a little lost and confused that two stalwarts were no longer available to us.
On our way back to our hotel we lamented how things were changing and it just wasn't the same and that got me thinking about change in general and how we can sometimes be hard on people because they "just don't get it" or they are resisting when in fact, dealing with change often leaves even the best intentioned people lost, confused and disoriented.
What I need right now, and what I reckon would be useful generally with change, is the new or alternative being:
- Viable - I can see that it would work in my world
- Accessible - easy for me to access and use
- Affordable - not just in coin, but in time and effort.
In her 2012 HBR article, Rosabeth Moss Kantor shares 10 reasons people resist change and I think the first 3 are super relevant here:
- Loss of control - there's nothing I can do and I feel helpless
- Excess uncertainty - now what do I do?
- Surprise surprise - this is not what I was expecting
I don't think anyone resists just because they can. They resist because they can't see the viability of the change, or it's too hard or inaccessible to them or the new way appears to simply costs too much in time, effort or money.
The happy ending to my story is that I popped into the ever ubiquitous and reliable ABC Stores and found all manner of cheesy souvenirs for unsuspecting family and a pile of good quality t-shirts along with some hibiscus patterned shirts.
The happy ending to my story is that I popped into the ever ubiquitous and reliable ABC Stores and found all manner of cheesy souvenirs for unsuspecting family and a pile of good quality t-shirts along with some hibiscus patterned shirts.
Don't know how I would cope if I ever came back and found ABC Shops had closed down!
Mahalo!
