The Change Resistors: Culture

Change resistant behaviors are often a cultural phenomenon and not simply random personal characteristics. A culture allows behaviors to persist by either rewarding them or not blatantly penalizing them. 

If resistant behaviors are allowed to continue, the change effort being attempted may very well be considered unsuccessful and abandoned.

People in the organization will learn that if they can stall long enough the “problem” will go away!  

Every time this happens resistance gets more solidly baked into the culture.

It gets harder and harder to change.

(Photo credit)

Updated 7/18

Posts to date include: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Passive-Aggressive Behavior, Decision Avoidance, Snipers, Skeptics, Leadership’s Resolve, Brain Based?, and Me and You

Technorati tags: Business, Change Resistors, Change Management

Comments

[ann michael]

Thanks for stopping by, John! I'm looking forward to your feedback as this series progresses.

[john dodds]

I agree with Mita, this is a very apposite series of posts. I recently read iCon and it appears that similar things happened during Amelio Gil's tenure at Apple in the mid 90s.

[ann michael]

As an example, I used to work with someone who would “yes” our CEO and then go and do whatever she wanted – according to her plans and her agenda. It was always under the guise of doing what was best for the company. She felt that the “poor CEO” just wasn’t as knowledgeable as she was in certain areas. The CEO was aware of her tactics but he did nothing to correct her.

One day in frustration he asked me why we made decisions and then nothing ever happened. I told him that he encouraged that behavior. That an influential direct report of his ignored his decisions and nothing ever happened to her. She was never corrected. The goals were never clarified. The organization and its members were never held accountable for doing what was decided.

He trained everyone to ignore him – and he wasn’t the first leader in this company to do that. Leadership had always changed there every 18-24 months. People learned that as long as they voiced agreement they would never have to act and they would not experience any negative consequences.

This company is still trying to change. I wish them the best –but they have a deep cultural bias toward inaction – baked in – over decades. It’s going to be harder and more painful than it should be for them to change.

[Ellen Weber]

Ann, you are taking readers to a place too few venture and where wonderful insights wait in the wings. I am intrigued by your notion of "resistance backed into the culture" and would love to hear a bit more...Can you elaborate on that one? Great post -- thanks!