Part II: Learning from resistance

Change-o-phobia!

7 out of 10 transformation programs fail (McKinsey).

Not surprisingly, as with many change initiatives, the Chief Anticipation Officer was initially met with a lot of resistance. Resistance from individuals and resistance from the organisation.

Introducing the Chief Anticipation Officer was a change; the sea of blank faces, the challenge of not having enough time and the underlying angst in the question of not knowing - ‘’Cathy, where would we even start?’’.

When it comes to change, it’s often not that people fear change, we value familiarity.        

We have done things a certain way and developed a set of skills over many years, that means if things change, and become unfamiliar – we start to ask ourselves - hang on, if I don’t know how to do this and I don’t have these skills - will I be relevant in the future?

… this pushes the brain into threat and survival mode and in this mode, we are not receptive to new learning and change. This is the way we are wired.

If you have a brain, you have a bias.        

As a psychologist I have always been interested in the human mind and what influences our behaviour. Reflecting on the change resistance I experienced at this early stage, I saw three powerful biases at play:

1.?Status Quo Bias: Figuring things out is hard. It burns cognitive resources that we’ve evolved to conserve. So, once we’ve figured something out, decided or chosen, we like to stick with it. It becomes a sort of mental shortcut or default.

2.?Sunk Cost Bias: Once we’ve invested in something (time, money, effort). We cling to it. We hang on to it tenaciously. We keep on investing in it (even when we probably shouldn’t). This is a kind of loss aversion.

3.?Defensive Decision Making: The safe “blame free” decision that fits the prevailing model. If I keep doing things the way they’ve always been done, I’m safe. If I do things differently and something goes wrong, it’s my fault and I’ll get blamed. We seek to minimise any downside risk.

Awareness is always the first step to any change process, and being aware of these powerful biases meant I could reflect in the context of Chief Anticipation Officer and the resistance I was experiencing.

My Reflections:

A Different Planet (Challenging Status Quo) - when we operate for many years in 100% ‘run-mode’ to drive performance month by month, quarter by quarter – anticipating the future is an alien concept. People want to stick to what they know – that’s why I felt like the one from outer space (at the start)!

Risk of Redundancy (Sunk Cost): In the workplace, many of us have invested time and effort building skills that make us valuable. Change may make those skills worthless. How do you feel about Chat GPT right now?

Management by the Rear-View Mirror (Defensive Decision Making): Looking back, many of our operating practices were based on what worked in the past - looking through the rearview mirror and tweaking a past practice was safer than introducing something radically different – how could we build foresight muscle?

Learning without reflection is a waste, reflection without learning is dangerous (Confucius).        

I share three key learnings:

First: Understand where people are today and meet them there. Speak in their language and remember to share what stays the same – some things won’t change and that will be a welcome relief.

Second: The risk of a redundant skillset is scary. What’s your role in helping reskill and upskill? How could I help the team develop a new set of skills to become ‘’Next Generation COO’s’’ and future-ready leaders?

Third: Best practices, over time, go out of date – what are the ‘’next practices’’? How to create a psychologically safe environment where people can experiment, and failure is celebrated in the pursuit of breakthrough innovation?

When I introduced the Chief Anticipation Officer, I framed it as a change in the Chief Operating Officer role itself, however reflecting and learning from the initial push back, I was wrong.        

The opportunity was way bigger than a role shift!

I'll share my perspectives on why and the actions that followed in the next instalment of my five-part story of the Chief Anticipation Officer!

In the meantime, I welcome your feedback, challenge and continuing our conversation together.