Here's a read that's worth a few minutes in your busy day. Decoding Resistance to Change, by Jeffrey D. Ford and Laurie W. Ford ( April 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review) takes a quick look at strategies for defeating resistance to change. Resistance being something health care leaders who operate at the cutting edge of science and technology never see, right? Not.
These authors, who also wrote the soon to be published book The Four Conversations: Daily Communication That Gets Results remind us that: "blaming resisters not only is pointless but can actually lead to destructive managerial behaviors." Of course much of what I see when health care leaders attempt to manage resistance is just that. And it leads to confrontations that preclude resolution.
Instead, Ford and Ford recommend some common sense strategies that are easily applicable to our world. Their starting point is that "resistance is a resource" to better understanding what change can actually be successful. Try these approaches out for size:
Boost awareness: Beginning with the observation that the change you see as essential from your vantage at the managerial level may be far less obvious - and intuitive - down below, they recommend that leaders: "Drop two levels down in the hierarchy, and the tasks people are doing are probably invisible to you. Their jobs will change in ways that you don't understand, and if you suppress dialogue, you'll miss opportunities to gain their buy-in."The change management job begins with bringing those who must live with change up to speed with your strategic thinking. How many leaders do you know who instinctively drop down into the organization to share the change agenda and listen to what it means to those that actually have to live the change?
Return to purpose: From where you sit, the connection between change and business or service purpose may be easy to understand. This is not always true for those you are trying to bring along. The authors remind us that: "Awareness is about what; purpose is about why." As a leader it's your job to connect people who are focused on the what (what they must do) to the why (why it's mission critical). How many times have you participated in operational or process change processes that are communicated by memoranda informing staff about what they need to do and how to do it the new way? Try focusing on the why which is the reason most health care workers are in their jobs to begin with. Mission driven people respond to the why.
Change the change: Believe it or not, "People who are outspoken about their objections to a change are often those who genuinely care about getting things right and who are close enough to the inner workings of an organization to recognize a plan's pitfalls." Listen to objections and resistance and learn from the feedback. It's more than likely that those in the trenches actually know best how to achieve the "why" - and when they understand the rationale can in some way improve on the "what" that leadership has framed. A little change in the change can sometimes change the magnitude and quality of resistance. Those closest to the patient, or the process, can inform your change recommendations into processes that work for staff and customers.
Build participation and engagement: Carrying the prior recommendation another step, the authors point out that: "Buy-in can be a simple matter of being heard." One of the biggest resistance -busters can simply be openness to input and participation in change planning. Informed from the ground up, the same changes to clinical or health care operational processes that evoke resistance can be experienced as creative, engaging opportunities to improve the work environment and patient care or service. This may take a little planning and facilitation but the end result can be a better change and a happier work force.
Complete the past: A reminder - resistance to change can be the result of prior failed change initiatives: "Given the dismal rate of success in change efforts, it's not surprising that people expect history to repeat itself--and resist going through it all over again. If you don't know the history, an explanation for the resistance can remain elusive." Institutional history can hurt you, even if it preceded your leadership. Do your homework on the history of change before creating more of it. If prior change attempts were not successful, address them head on and clarify why it will be different this time. Or learn from them and try another approach.
This all seems like a lot of common sense. How many change initiatives do you know about that didn't observe these simple guidelines?
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