Wanting to shake things up at work? Trying to implement new ideas and programs? Building new strategies that you can’t get people to adopt? Good. But, change is really hard and organizational resistance is real. You should know why people resist change so much.
People fear change. Making them uncomfortable and anxious. Resistance to change is about more than denial or fear. Resistance comes from an unconscious belief we have that if we’ve been doing something a particular way for a long time, it must be the best way to do the thing. In fact, the longer you’ve done something, the better that thing is in comparison to the new idea.
Changing isn’t just hard because it’s embracing something new or unknown, it’s also about moving away from something old and therefore believed to be good.
In an academic study, people were found to have a very reliable and tangible preference for things that have been around the longest. One study measured participants favorability for European chocolate. There were two chocolate choices to choose from — the first a 73-year-old brand the second a 3-year-old brand. Same chocolate, totally different response in favorability to the “older” chocolate. Additional studies were done on educational preferences in coursework, ages of artwork, and the admiration for the appearance of 4,500 vs 500-year-old trees.
Overcoming Unconscious Bias
Unconscious bias at work can be devastating. While time can represent credibility in products, trustworthiness, etc. it’s a dangerous psychological precedence when making decisions at work. It makes us blind to our own faults, the challenges of our organization, and the likelihood of outside disruption.
You can work to overcome this bias. The first step is recognizing it exists. Helping others change requires the convincing of others that new can be good. We also have to address their assumption that longevity is better for non-rational reasons.
Organizational resistance to change is real. You can work to overcome it and one of the first steps is recognizing that maintaining the status quo is an unconscious bias we have to recognize. Start there and keep seeking to #workbetter.
Longer is Better: The Study of Longevity
