5 Things You Didn't Know About Resistance During Accelerated Change

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It is clear that resistance to change is everywhere, but when it comes to accelerated change, things can become more complicated. The rapid succession of events often triggers forms of resistance among employees, a phenomenon that leaders frequently underestimate or overlook. Even if you are a very collaborative company, these kinds of situations require attention.

By examining how resistance manifests during periods of change, you can cultivate empathy, offer comprehensive solutions, and guide your teams through cyclical disruptions. The five areas we will examine below show some aspects that are not always considered.

1. Change fatigue weakens adaptability to changeEmployees face exhaustion from changes, which makes it challenging for them to adapt smoothly. The mental fatigue from managing each transition drains their enthusiasm for embracing changes regardless of the clarity of the overarching goal. Managers underestimate the threshold up to which employees can tolerate change in the long term. They can strategically prepare and synchronize new projects by evaluating the rate and scope of ongoing changes (Check the Changeability Spot Indicator on our EA World community website to know more about what to measure).
2. Poor communication methods make understanding difficult Well-intentioned communication about complex changes often uses jargon that is beyond people's communication skills. This leads to confusion and resistance due to a simple lack of understanding. Using understandable language and concrete examples that relate to different target groups creates the conditions for engagement. Similarly, presenting information through different media and forums according to preference increases reach.
3. Lack of real success demobilizes peopleLeaders’ imposing visions of organizational agility, transformation, or excessive innovation remain far from their realities rather than practical when viewed from an operational perspective. For visions of change to take root, they must be clearly translated into work-related terms and real-world implications for work. Again, input from a cross-section of the workforce and managers can highlight where messages fall short or seem irrelevant. Visible changes help to ensure that the vision manifests itself in reality.
4. Insufficient diversity of contributions in planningWhen leadership teams have similar backgrounds and experiences, they naturally overlook scenarios that are obvious to a more diverse population. Broad participation, anonymous input, staff advisory boards, and idea crowdsourcing provide an invaluable perspective on the impact and shortcomings of change plans. This proactive step uncovers risks and consequences that become visible through a broader mindset and numbers. Check the Arrow model in the EA World community to understand more about Diversity.
5. Misunderstanding typical performance effectsResearch shows that when employee creativity is increased, and processes significantly change, productivity and motivation often drop temporarily if this change is not done collaboratively. However, leaders or managers rarely explain this natural cause-and-effect. Employees then feel unfairly blamed for declining metrics while in the learning curves of change. Again, openly naming this expected phenomenon and helping individuals take ownership of the new situation can increase performance. Read more about how to build communication strategies with the Change Journey Pyramid (CJP) .

Even when resistance decreases shared progress, it provides valuable feedback about potential execution gaps, communication failures, relevance issues, or insufficient support. Rather than suppressing dissent, great leaders counter resistance with empathy and different communication styles to build Shared Progress . With mutual understanding as a guiding principle, resistant obstacles are transformed into factors that promote resilience and flexibility during change. Leaders and employees connected by empathy can overcome exponential challenges together.

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