Common Reactions to Change

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Decades of research shows that our reactions to change all follow the same general path – often referred to as the change continuum. The people in your organization will naturally follow this same path when you introduce your new point of sale system, re-jig your organizational structure or acquire a new line of business.

Here are some insights into the common reactions you might see or experience as you or the people in your organization move through the continuum of change.

When the change is first initiated, most people in your organization will be in one of the first two phases on the change continuum.

Head Low (Phase 1)

What You Might See and Hear: Few if any people will have questions at the end of the all staff meeting where the change is initiated. While top leaders often won’t hear it, talk around the water cooler may sound like this: “Yeah, they tried something similar back in ’95. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now…” “I’ve been around a long time – nothing every really changes around here.” “This won’t affect me.”

Don’t Be Fooled: Because these employees are not telling you they disagree with the change, you might interpret it to mean that they support it. As they learn more about what the change is going to mean for them, their discomfort will grow and their reaction will start to change.

Agreement/"Buy In" (Phase 2)

What You Might See and Hear: “It’s about time we did something like this!” “This is exactly what this organization needs right now.” “Why didn’t we do this five years ago?”

Don’t Be Fooled: While they sound enthusiastic today, these people don’t yet have enough information to understand and internalize the actions the change is going to require of them. As they learn more about what the change is going to mean for them, their discomfort will grow and their reaction will start to change.

Not in My Back Yard (Gateway between phases)

Not in My Back Yard does not represent a specific phase on the change continuum. Rather it’s a space that people move into as they move between phases. This movement can be both forward AND backward as people try to understand the change and what it means for them.

While leaders often mistake the discomfort that people experience and express here as resistance, it’s not.

What You Might See and Hear: “Well, this is exactly what Accounting needs, but it won’t work for our department.” “Nobody told me anything about this!” “What do we need to do this for?” “Our culture won’t support that!”

Don’t Be Fooled: This does not mean your entire team has now turned against you! And it’s not the time to get frustrated by this seeming change of attitude. Once the bulk of your team moves into this mode, you actually have their attention. THIS is the first time that you can really engage them in the change so that they can join you in the last, and most critical response to the change – commitment.

Commitment (Phases 3, 4 and 5)

Agreement without commitment will not result in people taking the actions that are needed for the change.

In this stage, people move through discovery, into implementation and ultimately, settle in the new steady state. While they may still have Not in My Back Yard reactions in these later phases on the continuum, it becomes less and less frequent.

What You Might See and Hear: “What can I/my team do to help make this work?” “I can see now how it’s all going to come together.” “This is such an improvement over the old system.”

Don’t Be Fooled: Even when people commit to the change, they may still experience periods of discomfort or doubt. Transition through the change continuum is not linear. People will move forward and backwards, sometimes seemingly all at once.