Imagine an airplane with an enthusiastic bunch on board. They have a plan, a crazy idea, and they are on their way to an island where that idea is going to become reality. The atmosphere is great, everyone is excited. But then things go wrong. Mid-flight, the plane starts to sputter. Doubt and fatigue creep into the wings. Because is that plan really realistic? And if that idea becomes reality, what will that mean for us? And who is going to do all of that once we get there, and will we ever be able to go back? In the end, the wings become completely paralyzed by criticism and the whole bunch plunges into the ocean. Fortunately, no one is injured, but they have still fallen from a great height — and that leaves its mark.
It has almost become common wisdom: people struggle with change. But there is less wisdom about the reasons for that aversion.
Yep, that airplane symbolizes change. And as you know, it often crashes into the depths along the way. Who doesn’t recognize that? It has almost become common wisdom: people struggle with change. But there is less wisdom about the reasons for that aversion. Why, actually? No one really wants everything to stay the same forever, except for the occasional obscure individual. And yet. Resistance to change is strong. In this blog, I try to shed some light on the murky inner workings that cause our difficult relationship with change. The focus is, of course, on change within organizations, but who works in those organizations? People. So we can’t get around that.
Where does the enthusiasm go?
How is it that we become discouraged? Why do some decisions never get off the ground? Where does the enthusiasm go when it disappears, and is that even normal? Well, yes, that is super normal. Change that only pays off in the long term, that changes the content of your job, that introduces uncertainty, calls for perseverance and no small amount of courage.
In my view, there are three undercurrents that make it psychologically difficult for us to change.
1 A lot of change happens slowly
That means the results take a long time to appear. And that is difficult. It takes a big leap — trust, let’s say — to keep believing in your choices when their effect is not visible. You also get little confirmation along the way: are those choices actually the right ones? Will they have the desired effect? And yes, we do tell ourselves and each other that it’s okay to make mistakes, but in practice we are hypersensitive to rejection and failure. In some entrepreneurial circles, the mantra may be ‘the road to success is paved with failure’, but in the organizations I know, people mainly hit the brakes when the risk of falling flat on your face is too high. If you don’t see any certainties on the horizon or the feedback loop is too long, then the choice tends to be for comfort, for what you know.
2 Realism is often lacking
Change is a lot of work. Do you want to set up a new strategy, method, product, or action? Then double the time you originally estimated. Just as pasta sauce is always a little tastier the next day, good ideas need to mature. Support doesn’t appear overnight either, and if you are truly working participatively, you have to allow for detours and make adjustments where necessary. The dreamers among us are good at lighting the fuse, but realistic types are also needed to count, plan, calculate, and edit thoroughly. And creating the right conditions to move from dream to reality requires… indeed, a lot of time.
3 Having a good plan does not mean everything will go according to plan
That is annoying. Difficult to accept. But the gap between plan and reality is large. Anyone who has ever had small children can confirm that. It is important to let go of your plan, to be agile, to pivot for a moment, and then move forward again. Our urge for certainty only creates blockages: we end up clinging to our plan so tightly that we would crush it rather than adapt it.
You can feel it: the boundary between human being and organization is blurry. Organizations sometimes work like a brain, a bit like in the film Inside Out. Many voices live in our heads — just as in a meeting room, around the table there is a dreamer and a realist, a critic, a planner, a doer, and a connector — and that whole bunch has to keep one another in balance, otherwise nothing will come of it at all. If one of those voices in your head or in your organization climbs the barricades alone, the risk of things fizzling out is high.
If you want change, make sure it is a team effort. Does the ground feel like quicksand, without a clear horizon or feedback, without certainties or an inflexible plan? Then there are ways to deal with that, to let the airplane arrive at its destination. But that is for a next blog. Just to keep things exciting.
