Twenty years ago, an expert in organisational development and organisational change introduced me to the ‘resistance to change’ formula. I’ve used it ever since to better manage any business projects – which means all business projects!! – involving a change in organisation and behaviour.
Here’s the formula:
D x V x F > R
Where –
D – Dissatisfaction with the current state;
V – Vision for the future;
F – First steps are clear;
And –
R – Resistance to change.
The main thing to note is that it is a multiplicative formula. In other words, if any of the three factors of ‘Dissatisfaction’, ‘Vision’ or ‘First Steps’ are missing the left-hand side of the formula equals zero. When that happens, the resistance to change will outweigh your efforts to deliver your desired changes.
As a result, you must make sure that you work on all three factors of D, V and F and ensure that each element is strong enough with your target audience to outweigh and remove their resistance.
How effective are you at leading organisational change? And how could you improve your change management results by focusing on the ‘resistance to change’ formula?
© Stuart Cross 2019. All rights reserved.