Why do we resist change?
What we do going forward can either assist us or inhibit personal progress. We can face up the future and the changes we must make and let our decisions be either a blessing or a curse. It’s up to each one of us to decide.
In the “Time Theme” by Sir Lawrence Olivier he states that “the quality of your life is brought about by the quality of your thinking” – think about that”
If we look about us we will see pettiness, envy, greed and fear. These are all issues over which we have no control. What we do have control of is our personal attitude and the way in which we permit our attitude to impact on the lives of those with whom we come into contact. So to address the issue of change we must first decide to change our attitude.
It is our attitude and not our aptitude that will determine our altitude or the height to which we can rise if we accept the challenges of change.
Effective transformation and change cannot be achieved easily, quickly or cheaply Change is toxic but at the same time can be a tonic – it is both a threat and an opportunity. Individuals have very different attitudes and will behave differently depending on how they are personally impacted by the change. Change makes people restless – people can get upset.
What is most important in addressing and form of change is that an exchange is necessary – people need to communicate and share their experiences.
Diversity refers to variety and difference. Diversity refers to people who belong to various cultural groups or people with different human qualities and opinions. The primary dimensions of diversity include inborn differences or differences that can seldom change and have an ongoing impact throughout one’s life such as age, sexual orientation, race and so on. These cannot be changed – e can do nothing about our race or our colour so we must learn to accept these differences exist.
If and when we decide to change our attitudes we must then
Be willing to learn, to adapt to difference and be inclusive of a diverse range of work styles and life styles
Be prepared to accept innovative and diverse thought processes and that others have a wide and diverse variety of individual needs
Ensure we try to get to know, understand and work to key societal values and practices
Try to foster consultative and representative decision making and problem solving in our work places
Each and every individual must
Accept there is diversity all around us daily and strive to cultivate communication in this diverse society with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures
We need to listen more carefully and try to understand the thinking of others.
Identifying and use diversity to foster adaptability and innovation. Our way might not necessarily be the right way, other people have different ways of doing things
We should try to develop cross-cultural skills, awareness and competence in all members of our workforces in order to improve business operations and customer service
In order to bring about change and engender harmony in the society in which we live and work each of us has a responsibility to
See each individual as a culture of one – there is no difference between us
Achieve clear vision by avoiding stereotypes – putting people in boxes
Avoid assumptions, acknowledging variety and cultivating innovation
Change is constant and is inevitable but we still resist it. A lack of trust increases this resistance. Lack of trust can lead to poor communication because people hear what they want to hear. Poor communication leads to incorrect information and the start of rumors
Change requires something to end. With endings comes the experience of loss. It is primarily because of these losses, both real and anticipated, that we resist change.
But with every ending comes a new beginning.
Des Squire (Managing Member)
AMSI and Associates cc
082 800 9057
des@msiandassociates.co.za
Replies to This Discussion
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ContributorPermalink Reply by Des Squire on -
Thank you Sylvia and all the otheres who have made comment so far. One of the greates problems we have today is the fact that we fail to listen to what others have to say and at the same time to realise they are entitled to their opinions. There are, in reality - no rights or wrongs! Each one is entitled to an opinion and we as individuals need to respect this. In many instances this will require a change of thinking. We should ponder the words of Sir Lawrence Olivier in "Time Theme"
If your thinking is in order,
your words will flow directly from the heart
creating ripples of love.If you truly want to change your world, my friends,
you must change your thinking.Reason is your greatest tool
it creates an atmosphere of understanding,
which leads to caring which is love.We all need to realise that the one thing we have absolute control over is your attitude. But are we prepared to change????
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Permalink Reply by Prof. JAGDISH KHATRI on -
Excellent Article, Congrats!
Change management is one thing that must be taught to every professional, and if feasible to every adult, in every field. Change is not only inevitable, but at times, it is desired too, for avoiding falling into trap of complacency.
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Expert AdvisorPermalink Reply by Catherine Anne Robertson on -
Very thought-inspiring, wise comments, thank you Des. We need to concentrate on how we think about things rather than be negative about them. I especially love that little verse that reminds us to change what we can, leave what we cannot do anything about alone and have the wisdom to know the difference (obviously not the real words, but a little paraphrase of how I tend to live my life). I guess a bit of wisdom comes with age. Alan Paton said you cannot be as angry at 40/50/ etc. as you were at 30!
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Permalink Reply by Paul J Whitehouse on -
I like your comments Des, resistance to change is a hard wired human characteristic, implicit in change is a decision-making activity, without which doing what you have been doing for however long will be perpetuated.
I wish I had made the quote; "if you feel a resistance to change - stop pushing" lovely isn't it?
What it does is to remind us that we are here, now, as a result of such resistances.
Most people are not "changers" most of us are followers. So it essential that our leadership possesses sufficient capacity as well as initiative to have some visionary "pull" that can translate into the nature of information that enables us to make the decision to change.
Marketeers talk of the FOMO (fear of missing out) effect, this has been used over eons to manipulate Homo sapiens, but even this ra ra ra type approach must still pass through some cognitive activity, albeit briefly.
So, resistance o change will always be with us (hopefully) making us check the next step, forcing us to hesitate when looking out of our ancestral caves, creep forth as hunter gatherers, pause at the onset of the Industrial revolution, resist despotic leadership, reflect our impact on planet earth, cautiously consider where we might be heading, a mono cultured civilisation eating mono-cultured food??????
We must must do all the things we have been doing but with circumspection, and look at the responsibilities that Des so well describes.
Paul Whitehouse
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