Resisters to Change

Frank Bowsher of IBM wrote, in Educating America, about the resisters to change in Education.

I have adapted his list of types of resisters to accomodate resisters to change, in general.

With apologies to Frank for modest editing, I hope you'll enjoy these. Watch for them in the workplace every day.

The "Positive" Resister - this person agrees with all the new ideas and programs, but never takes the first step to implement any changes.

The "Unique" Resister - All this change is good for the other areas, but it clearly doesn't apply to that individual's unique department.

The "Let Me Be Last" Resister - this person will not say your ideas are wrong. His or her strategy is to be the last department to implement changes, hoping that all these new ideas will die out before his or her department must move forward into the new world.

The "We Need More Time To Study" Resister - the "we need more time to study " resister is very common. This is one of the most palatable reasons for resisting. After all, who could object to doing more studies?

The "States Rights" Resister - The "states rights" resister is also common in large companies. This person always resists any programs from headquarters, making great presentations about how local programs are the only effective way to go.

The "Cost Justifier" Resister - the "cost justifier" wants everything cost justified prior to any change. This resister demands to have "business cases" prepared. The real message this person sends, however, is a simple resistance to change.

The "Incremental Change" Resister - one of the most difficult people to win over to a new system is the "incremental change" resister. This is the person who will try anything new as long as the new system has everything the old system had..."

-edited from Bowsher, Frank, Educating America



ibmwfw20
"resister.doc"
3/9/95