How do you deal with resistance to change?

by Bernard Redmann
(Juneau WI, USA)

I was re-hired for my third term of employment at my current place of employment. This time after getting my AAS degree in Process Engineering. I was re-hired for the express purpose of the "need to change and grow attitude", but I have no authority and, at every turn, I'm met with resistance from the authority that does exist. It's to the point where I feel like it's jeopardizing my job because I'm a threat to "the good 'ole boys" way of doing things.

I'd like to see some open discussions or links on how the attitudes of "we've been this way for years", and "we didn't invent it, so it's wrong" cripples a company's morale, growth, and ability to retain talent.

Bullseye Industries
Juneau, Wisconsin

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Apr 01, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		Dealing with Resistance
by: Angela Corriero

Dear Juneau,

Your frustration is shared globally by people required to change the status quo. It is felt here in Japan as well. The existing leaders have a vested interested in status quo as they got to their level of power in that system. Change threatens what they know. The Japanese have a great expression "fight without having to fight" and indeed they employ it most often. Also, they believe in making small changes so as not to rock the boat too much. I believe we could learn alot from their philosophy on this. Demonstrating with data and showing them the benefits in a very practical manner will serve you well.

Taiichi Ohno, the creator of Toyota`s just-in-time production system, had the same problem as you. He often stated how frustrating it was to deal with attitudes that we not conducive to productivity and efficiency. He would personally go to the workshop floor and demonstrate what he wanted done and why - with evidence of the improvement. He would say "it`s important to just try it". He did not agree with table discussions of which way was better or worse. He would simply demonstrate its value. I highly recommend the book "Taiichi Ohno`s Workplace Management" published by McGraw Hill.

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