Why is Change So @!*# Hard? Leadership Lessons, Part 2.

A few weeks ago, I shared my thoughts on why change is so hard and I want to thank everyone for sharing their perspectives. There’s no denying it –we are very interested in this topic because we know change is necessary if we want to grow as individuals and if our organizations want to stay relevant and resilient. ?One comment really got me thinking - change is “often less about the technical aspects and more about how we approach change psychologically and organizationally”.? I have some additional perspectives to share with you because change and changing is a very complicated and misunderstood concept. On reflection, it seemed fitting to alter the title of this 2nd piece on change slightly.

I don’t necessarily believe in a widely shared perspective that we are “wired” to be against change. ?I do, however, understand that perspective because it’s likely a constant source of frustration and pushback, whether it’s about changing something in our personal lives or in our professional lives or when we try to get other people to change their behaviors (Yes, I have been on the receiving end of frequent pleas to change how I load the dishwasher!).? We experience first-hand how difficult and seemingly improbable change can be. ?

As I shared previously, the negative reaction against change is, in part, because the change being proposed is threatening one’s identity. But that’s not the full picture.? Identity is linked with the meaning attached to one’s identity. It is the combination of identity and meaning that gives us purpose and a sense of self. My identity as an academic has both an identity component and deep meaning. It gives me a sense of identity (my role as a leader and scholar), which is linked to meaning I assign to those roles (higher education transforms lives).? If you tell me that a higher education degree no longer has value, you are unknowingly telling me my identity/meaning has no value. ?I’ll respond by being defensive to protect my identity instead of being curious and exploring your thoughts behind that statement.

In addition to identity and meaning being threatened by change, change can also psychologically generate a perceived threat to those Maslow’s basic needs people are concerned about – their job, their livelihood, their income – their well-being. If identity/meaning and well-being are not acknowledged and addressed when we launch a change initiative, unhealthy friction - actions designed to slow down or stop change - ensues. These behaviors range from delay tactics to intentionally spreading misinformation or making personal attacks directed at those leading or supporting change.? In turn, those leading and supporting change react to address delays, misinformation and personal attacks. ?Collectively, these behaviors promote a kind of ‘organizational chaos’ that will act as a barrier to the change initiative. ?What we experience and observe are these unhealthy friction behaviors against change while the ‘box’ holding people’s identities and threats to wellbeing remain ‘unpacked’ and are likely a significant driver of that unhealthy friction.

If you have ever experience unhealthy friction against a change initiative, you probably tried to share logic or facts about the positive outcomes change will bring, to no avail. Why? Because facts don’t address the threats to identity/meaning or well-being. ?This reminds me of an observation made by Hannah Arendt, a well-known 20th century philosopher. She said, “…reason is not inspired by the quest for truth, but by the quest for meaning. And truth and meaning are not the same.”

Once you address these hidden elements causing friction, you can begin to create positive friction by asking employees to honestly share insights about what’s good and bad about the change being proposed – and have a better outcome! ?

The bottom line — if you are in the midst of a change initiative that’s going nowhere, hit the pause button. Step back and create a safe space for people to share their deeply held notions of identity/meaning and concerns the change initiative might bring to their well-being. Honestly and courageously address those personal and deep-seeded concerns and rebuild your approach. Set up structured conversations to foster healthy friction moving forward. If you are starting to map out a change initiative, make sure you engage employees early on to understand their identity/meaning or well-being concerns and address them before you hit the “go” button.

As leaders, strive to create an organizational culture that values and promotes conversations and actions to nurture healthy friction by your employees. If you nurture healthy friction your employees will feel valued and their engagement will result in better organizational outcomes. Below are additional resources I hope you will find helpful on this topic. Do you have other resources or thoughts you’d like to share? Please do as I would love to hear your perspective. Be well and be your best self today! ?Oh, good news! I have finally unpacked all my boxes from the move.

1.???? To learn more about friction in organizations check out the work by Drs. Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao. Their book is called The Friction Project. (2024). St. Martin Press. Dr. Sutton also has a podcast called Friction. Standford eCorner Podcast . I particularly liked this episode” Don’t Sugar Coat Your Culture” with Patty McCord. Season 1, Episode 2.

2.???? To understand identity and personal meaning check out The Jackpod: Even ‘and’ and ‘the’ via the On Point Podcast with Meghna Chakrabarti. While this podcast discusses identity and meaning in our political dynamics, it has interesting points about why truth and meaning are not the same and reintroduced me with Hanna Arendt’s work about facts and meaning.

3.???? Here’s a related study about meaning and workplace change initiatives by Katsaros (2022). Their research found that “…meaning-making may influence positively the relationship between workplace belongingness and employee change participation and thus, it may emerge as a significant ally during organizational change”.

Katsaros, K. K. (2022). Exploring the inclusive leadership and employee change participation relationship: the role of workplace belongingness and meaning-making.?Baltic Journal of Management,?17(2), 158-173. https://doi.org/10.1108/BJM-03-2021-0104

4.???? This article by Cutcher (2009) shared findings from their study that set out to understand why a group of front-line service employees resisted changes to their organization’s service strategy. “…front-line service officers drew on historically established meanings… of…community to resist their organization’s sales strategy.”

?Cutcher, L. (2009). Resisting change from within and without the organization.?Journal of Organizational Change Management,?22(3), 275-289. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534810910951069

?