My Reflection on The Resistance to Change Theory
Some people are resistant to change because they fear the uncertainty and they are worried that the changes might lead to something unbeneficial for them. Heathfield (2021) defined resistance to change as a behavior in which the subject is reluctant to accept or comply with transformed situations.
Tanner (2018) stated that some people are afraid to accept the change because they fear that they might lose their status and some of their works. For example, they might fear that if the company uses AI and the latest technologies, they might lose some of their works and eventually lose their job. The other reasons are no reward system, fear of the unknown, protecting the interest of a group, and climate mistrust (Tanner, 2018)
Reflections
According to the Resistance to change questionnaire (n.d.), my resistance to change questionnaire results show that I tend to prevent or resist change because it seems that I don’t enjoy changes and don’t feel comfortable with them. The result told me that my satisfaction and contentment with the environment are likely to improve when the circumstances around me are constant and certain. I agree with these results to some extent since I’m aware that my type of personality is the one that likes predictable circumstances so that I can plan what I’m going to do next. It gives me a sense of control and minimizes the fear of failure within me.
It was written in the results that “There are things that you like to do on a regular basis, but on occasion you like to break your routines and do something unexpected or unplanned.” (Resistance to change questionnaire, n.d.)
This part seems accurate and fits with my current attitudes toward change. I love predictable situations but sometimes I would like to break my routines and go for something new to prevent boredom.
“When you think about change, although you are aware of the short-term inconvenience that may be involved, you can still see the potential long-term benefits and can therefore take them into consideration when making decisions about change. Beyond this, you appear to be very stable and consistent in your opinions. You know what you believe in and are not very likely to change your mind. Some might even say that you are somewhat stubborn.” (Resistance to change questionnaire, n.d.)
This part is also accurate in terms of my decision-making tendency towards change. For example, I took this MBA program despite that it might alter my routine activities as a full-time worker in Japan because I know that getting an MBA degree may leverage my career in the future.
“Your emotional reaction to changes is generally negative. Changes often make you feel uncomfortable, nervous and even stressed.” (Resistance to change questionnaire, n.d.)
However, I think this part is not accurate because my emotional reaction to change is not always negative. Yes, sometimes changes make me uncomfortable, nervous and even stressed but it rarely happens to me.
An example of a change situation that I was recently involved in is when my company changed its default working style from on-site work into remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I used to commute to my office at the center of Osaka, Japan until mid-2020. Japanese government asked the companies to reduce the commuters up to 80%. Therefore, my company close its branch office in Osaka and asked the employees to work from home as a default way of working. At that time, I didn’t resist at all because truth to be told, I prefer working remotely rather than having to commute and ride the overcrowded Japanese train every morning. The outcome is all of the company activities were done mainly online even the meeting with important clients. The management realized that by doing this we can reduce most of the operational cost of the company, because of that they keep remote working as our default working style.
Conclusion
Even though change might not easy and tend to make us insecure as it brings uncertainty and fear of losing control, we should welcome change with an open hand to adapt to our circumstances. Most people resist change due to various reasons, yet we need to realize that some changes might be beneficial for us and the organization to which we belong.
References
Heathfield, S. M. (2021, March 1). What is resistance to change? The Balance Careers. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-resistance-to-change-1918240
Resistance to change questionnaire. (n.d.). http://pluto.huji.ac.il/~oreg/questionnaire.php.
Tanner, R. (2018, May 18). Organizational change: 8 reasons why people resist change. https://managementisajourney.com/organizational-change-8-reasons-why-people-resist-change/
Note:
This article is written based on University of The People Organizational Behavior (BUS 5113) written assignment by Fristy Tania in October 2021
