Monday, May 17, 2010

Chapter 18 - Resisting Change

Chapter 18 defines the resistance of change into 11 reasons

An individual's predisposition towards change
Surprise and fear of the unknown
Climate of mistrust
Fear of failure
Loss of status or job security
Peer Pressure
Disruption of cultural traditions or group relationships
Personality conflicts
Lack of tact or poor timing
Non reinforcing reward systems
Past success

This provides a clear understanding of the common reasons why some people simply hate change. After reading it, I know what are the main points to address when I have to be the one that issues change. Most of these feelings of uncertainty because of change can be combated with in depth information. For example, people wouldn't be that worried about the loss of status if they are well informed of it and how to combat it beforehand. The fear of change is mainly due to the lack of information.

Personally, I resist change mainly because of the surprise and fear of the unknown. There is so much that is unpredictable when it comes to change. I think that's a lot of peoples' concern as well; what is the unpredictable. You can inform someone of change to the extent of what you know is going to happen, but what you don't know is the issue that most people are afraid of. The best that one can do is throw out some educated guesses but that's it. That's my personal reason on why change can be viewed as more negative than positive.

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