Resistance to Change

Regardless of where one is on the political spectrum, a common reaction in western democracies to issues with which one disagrees is to resist. The 19th century philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote a treatise on the subject, first entitled Resistance to Civil Government but later published under the more popular term Civil Disobedience. Resistance in this form can be considered essential to the function of a democracy in representing the will of the people, especially in protecting marginalized populations, but also an anathema to those in power or in favor of the policies being opposed.

Many of the great institutions that we celebrate today have their origins in individual or collective resistance. The Boston Tea Party was a form of resistance -- a protest against British taxes which the American colonists felt were unfair. Mahatma Gandhi protested against colonialism initially in South Africa and eventually in India. The Berlin Airlift provided a different example in which nation states resolved a difference through peaceful resistance rather than warfare, establishing independence for West Berlin from the surrounding East German area of control.

But while resistance can play a positive role in reversing bad policies or undoing injustice, resistance can also be misapplied when the source of our resistance is merely reactionary and not grounded in belief, ideals, judgement, or some other grounded assessment of the thing being resisted. In short, I would argue that there is a "good" resistance and a "bad" resistance. Not in the sense that the reasons for resistance can be judged to be "good" or "bad" as these reasons are likely to be anchored in one's world view, politics, associates, objectives, etc. But rather "good" if there are reasons and "bad" if there are none.

What are the sources of what I am calling "bad" resistance? I think there are four primary reasons, which I like to call HIDE, an acronym for habit, identity, defensiveness, and expectation. None of these in themselves are "bad" or at least they need not be bad all of the time. But when they combine to provide a reactionary resistance to any change, the outcome is more often bad than if that change was evaluated and reasons determined resistance or adoption of that change.

1. Habit. "An acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become involuntary." This is the person who says "if it's not broken, don't fix it." We convince ourselves that we like how things are better than any possible difference. I have always walked to the store, why would I get there any other way?
2. Identity. Self-imposed limitations through labels and preconceptions. Identity can be imposed from outside ourselves or adopted on our own. Identity is complex and can inform a reasoned evaluation but can also cause someone to resist change without examination. I am too old to learn how to do something new.
3. Defensiveness. Change is an imposition, it requires that something be done or learned. The comfort (or habit) of the old way of doing things can also raise a different reaction of hostility and defensiveness. The change can feel as if the old comfortable way is being attacked, that it is "wrong" or "bad" and must be replaced. And so the reactionary response is to defend the old way. It was good enough for me when I was growing up, why isn't it good enough for you?
4. Expectation. Really this is also fear -- fear of failure. An expectation that if I try something new that I won't succeed, or at least that the consequences of not succeeding will be worse than the consequences of not trying at all. No one was ever fired for buying IBM.

All four of these behaviors play a role in slowing (or stopping) change for individuals, organizations, and societies. And this is especially dangerous at the present time when the pace of change is accelerating, with technical innovations transforming the way we produce goods, travel from point A to point B, manage our finance, or virtually anything else we can imagine doing as people or companies. In order to survive (and thrive) in the coming years and decades, we must embrace adaptability and learn to overcome the instinct to HIDE.