Championing Change

Taking the initiative in suggesting changes and overcoming resistance.

Change and learning and development are inextricably interwoven; you can't have one without the other. People will often curse and swear about changes but there is no doubt they are superb generators of learning.

The most powerful changes are transformational where step by step modifications to the present situation are inappropriate. Transformational changes are big, complex and perplexing with ramifications that are difficult to predict. By contrast, incremental, step by step modifications to the present are relatively easy to predict and manage. Sometimes, however, a change that starts incrementally gains unexpected momentum and suddenly flips over and becomes transformational. A famous example is the Spinning Jenny invented by Hargreaves in 1764. This simple invention for spinning cotton eventually resulted in the Industrial Revolution (revolutions are always transformational). A current example might be the so-called Greenhouse Effect where global warming is so gradual that some people doubt it is happening at all. If and when deserts expand, ice caps melt and sea levels rise, the incremental changes will have become transformational.

Broadly there are two ways you can use change as a trigger for learning. Either you can be the initiator and champion change yourself and/or you can encourage other people to champion their own changes. From a learning point of view the latter is a more potent experience, though there is much to learn from having change imposed and the goal posts moved for you. Champions of change learn that:

• the vision of how much better things could be has to be vivid and graphic to conjure up a clear, inspirational picture in people's minds

• resistance is inevitable and has to be managed

• there are different reasons for resistance and each needs a different strategy.

  Reason for resistance	Strategy to overcome resistance
  Parochial self-interest 'I will lose out'	Negotiate a win-win outcome
  Misunderstanding 'I don't understand the reasons for this'	Inform and educate
  Different perceptions 'We are doing it already' 'We've tried it before and it doesn't work'	Involve the resistors in participative sessions where differences in perceptions are explored
  Low tolerance for change 'I dread anything that is unfamiliar/will spoil my routine'	Go ahead and impose the change but give resistors lots of support to help them discover the change isn't as bad as they feared

Other lessons about change will also be learned, such as 'there is nothing permanent, except change' and 'even transformational changes need incremental steps'.

Despite the rumour to the contrary, it is impossible to indulge in change for change's sake; at the very least you should indulge in it for learning's sake.