Change is a very natural part of life. Very rarely do things remain the same either in our personal lives or our professional lives. People must be able to adapt to these changes in order to keep up with those around them. Some of these changes are easy to take on as people buy into them very quickly and easily. Other changes are met with resistance. If not handled properly, this resistance to the change can overcome the change agent thus rendering the desired change impossible to accomplish.
Change Agents Contributions to change resistance As a change agent, one’s desire is implement the desired change. Behavior of the change agent can sometimes however lead to increased resistance to change. These contributions include “breaking agreements and violating trust, misrepresentation and other communication breakdowns, and their own resistance to change. ” (Ford et al, 2008).
In order to avoid these situations, Understanding these potential contributions is critical for change agents.
The first potential contribution to change resistance is for a change agent to be perceived a breaking agreements and violating trust. “Agreements, including psychological and implied contracts are broken or breached whenever agents of the organization knowingly or unknowingly renege on a promise or an understood and expected pattern of cooperation. ” (Ford et al, 2008).
The Essay on ‘Scrooges decision to change his way of life is purely selfish’ Do you agree?
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a moral tale that depicts the protagonist’s Ebenezer Scrooge’s moral journey from selfishness to redemption. It can be seen that his new found way of life is derived from the desire to be a good man of the community and to assist others such as Tiny Tim. The idea of Scrooge’s transformation not being selfish can also be seen in his aspiration to contribute to ...
In my opinion, this is potentially the biggest pitfall for a change agent to fall into. In order to successfully implement change, change agents must gain and keep the support of people involved in the change. When people experience an injustice or betrayal, they report resentment, a sense of being done to, and a desire for retribution which can result in such negative behaviors as stealing, lower productivity, lower work quality, and less cooperation. ” (Ford et al, 2008).
I have been in several work situations where a change agent (typically the supervisor of a section) has attempted to implement some new procedures. Promises were made by the supervisor about how the changes were going to be implemented and the reasons for the changes.
When the workers found out that a lot of what was being told to them was lies, they lost their drive and motivation. While I have never experienced the severe implications that Ford et al described, I have seen the impact of a supervisor losing the trust of his workers and thereby the results of a failed change attempt. The second potential contribution to change resistance is a communication breakdown. This can take place in the form of “failing to legitimize change, misrepresenting its chances of success, and failing to call people to action. ” (Ford et al, 2008).
Communication is critical in any work environment and even more so during times of change. People often times just want to know what is going on and proper communication can put people at ease instead of having them on edge by not knowing. “Change agents, therefore, must provide discursive justifications that establish the appropriateness and rationality of a change adoption, create readiness for change, and increase not only the likelihood of recipient acceptance and participation in the change but also the speed and extent of that acceptance. (Ford et al, 2008).
Recently, I wrote a paper about the struggles of one section of the squadron I work in, specifically the weather section. This is a clear situation where there was not a proper legitimization for the changes that were being implemented here. The flight commander implemented countless changes without first getting the workers to understand the need for the change. He simply believed that since he was in charge, he could make the changes and that everything would be fine.
The Essay on Change Agents
According to (Tandon, 2002), a change agent needs many personal characteristics in order to be successful. The role model of an outstanding change agent is embodied by James Shaw, who is described as young, ambitious, idealistic, demanding, enthusiastic, creative, intelligent, educated, persistent, strong-minded, as well as naïve, inexperienced, critical and unrealistic. He seems to have it all. ...
The changes were made because he was in charge, but in the process, he alienated himself from everyone else in the flight and is now having problems keeping his people motivated. The second communication failure is misrepresentation. “Change agents may engage in intentional misrepresentation to induce recipients’ participation, to look good, or to avoid losing face and looking bad. ” (Ford et al, 2008).
I believe this is a large problem in the military today if not in the civilian sector as well. Many of our promotions are determined based on how good we look to our superiors.
I can account numerous times were a supervisor has misled his people just to get them to complete certain tasks that would make them look good. In one situation, after I confronted my supervisor about this type of act, he told me straight out that he believed that it was my job as his subordinate to see that he got promoted whatever the cost. The final communication failure potential is in no call for action. “Change is fundamentally about mobilizing action, and although talk is essential, not all talk leads to action. ” (Ford et al, 2008).
I equate this to a cheer-leader type talk.
We have all been in large room settings with a passionate speaker that gets everyone very “pumped-up” about a situation. The problem is that a lot of times it ends there with no read action taking place. Finally, a change agent can contribute to resistance through their own resistance or the perception of resistance. Many people focus only on the change recipients when developing strategies for implementing change, but the focus must also be on the change agent. “If change agents fail to treat the communications of change recipients as genuine and legitimate, or as extensions and translations of the change, they may be seen as resistant. (Ford et al, 2008).
This can also be the case when change agents believe they should simply not talk about a problem as that will highlight the problem. The theory of; if you ignore it long enough, it will go away. This is simply not the case with change and can in fact cause more problems for the change agent. Using Resistance to Change as a Change Agent Resistance to change is to be expected. This resistance should not be viewed obstacles or problems. “On the contrary, recipient reactions can have value for the existence, engagement, and strength of a change. (Ford et al, 2008).
The Term Paper on Post Card Change Life People
Different types of people have separate views on change. Some like change, others dislike it and there are those that accept it but wish for most experiences or even life to remain unchanged. There are also people who may learn from the change that was so unwanted. Good examples of these types of people are found in the following texts. Sky-high by Hannah Robert, Post Card by Peter Skrzynecki and ...
By keeping change topics being spoken, they begin to lose their newness. People fear what they don’t know and can simply be afraid of a change because it is unknown. By people being resistant to a change, they tend to talk about the perceived problems with the change. “Although talking in a negative way—for example, complaining and criticizing—has been labeled as resistance, it can nevertheless be functional because it keeps the topic “in play”—that is , in existence—giving others an opportunity to participate in the conversation. ” (Ford et al, 2008).
The engagement value of resistance shows that through resistance, people will completely understand a process and the reason for the change. By fully understanding it, they will be committed to it as opposed to someone who simply supported the change from the beginning with no real understanding. The strengthening value of resistance indicates that through resistance, you gain stronger support for the change. “This is particularly likely where resistance is authentic rather than contrived or artificially generated. ” (Ford et al, 2008) 8 Steps to overcome problems
John Kotter, Harvard Business Review, identified 8 phases of positively effecting change. These steps are the most common area for mistakes when implementing changes. The first phase is to establish a sense of urgency. People must feel that the change is needed and needed immediately. The second phase is to form a powerful guiding coalition. The initial core of your strongest believers in the change is critical in properly growing the support. Third, you must create a vision. This vision can help people identify with what the future will be after the change is initiated. Next, you must communicate the vision.
The vision is great, but it must be communicated out so that everyone understands what this vision is. This step cannot be underestimated. The fifth stage is empowering others to act on the vision that has been shared. People must be allowed to enact changes in their areas in order to enact the overall change. The sixth stage is to plan for short-term wins. Big changes take time and people lose momentum and focus. By creating short-term wins, you can keep people motivated and working towards the long-term goals. Next is to consolidate improvements and sustain the momentum for the change.
The Essay on How Being In Love Can Change People
"How Being in Love can Change People" In the three marvelous works, Matchstick Men, Punch-Drunk Love, and "Mama Day", people are all changed greatly, and for the better by romantic or father / child love. How everyone knows that there is no one on Earth who is perfect, yet when there is love, we come so close to it. Within these three works of art, one can analyze how there is actual change ...
Too often, people believe the changes have taken affect before they truly have and there is a regression to pervious methods. The final stage is in institutionalizing the new approaches. This takes many years to effectively be completed and for people to believe that the “new” way is just the way it is done. References Ford, J. D. , Ford L. W. & D’Amelio (2008).
Resistance to change: The rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33,362-377. J. P. Kotter (1995).
Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, March-April, 59-67.
