It's easy to observe that people are resistant to organizational change.
If you've worked in an organization for more than a brief period, you have probably been resistant yourself.
Perhaps you were told you'd have a new manager or that your team would be using a technology, or your company was being acquired.
Maybe your teams had grown in size and was split into two teams.
The most common reason people resist change is a lack of awareness about the reasons for the change.
If your team is being split into two teams, you're much more likely to support that change if you understand why it's happening.
Another reason employees resist changes is the fear of the unknown.
I might be willing to go skydiving, but when it's time to jump out of the airplane, I'll be a lot more inclined to through with it if an instructor has
removed the fear of unknown by telling me exactly what to expect.
The third most common reason employees resist change is a lack of job security.
I've got bills to pay and mouths to feed.
Will I still have a job after the change?
If a change was introduced and I'm worried it could affect my job, I am probably going to resist that change.
Finally, the fourth most common reason employees resist change is a lack of executive sponsorship for the change.
We're all much more likely to support a change if there is at least one key leader advocating for change!
Managers resist changes for slightly different reasons.
They are a fear of losing control and authority.
A lack time.
Comfort with the status quo, not having an answer to what's in it for me, and not being involved in designing the change.
I think these reasons managers resist change are informative because each also applies to scrum masters, product owners,
coaches, architects, lead developers, or others with some added authority or influence.
Let's look at three strategies you can use to overcome these types of resistance, especially resistance to adopting or improving at Agile.
In combination, the three Strategies are designed to convert resistors to advocates by progressing through a sequence of steps needed to make any change.
First, people need to have an awareness that there is a better approach than what they're currently doing.
Second, they need the desire to use that approach.
And once that desire exists, People need ability to the new approach Suppose I've recently learned that vegetables from a home garden taste better than
store-bought vegetables.
That's the first step, awareness.
Next, I need the desire to start growing my own vegetables.
It sounds good, but it's so much work and buying vegetables at the store is so easy.
That is why right now I don't grow my vegetables even though I know they taste better.
I'm stuck at that desire step.
Once I get past that hang-up and I desire growing vegetables, I'll need the ability to grow them.
I will need to know how much to water them, which should be planted in the most sunlight, and so on.
The three steps then are me becoming aware homegrown vegetables taste better, then me desiring to take the effort to grown them and finally having the
ABILITY to do so.
When someone is resistant, take a moment to think about these three stages and see if you can figure out where the person is stuck.
Are they aware there's a better way?
Do they know there is a way but just don't desire to do it?
Or is desire present but the other person doesn't have the ability?
Where someone is stuck will help you know what to do to reduce their resistance.
If someone has stuck at the awareness stage, there are a number of things you can do.
First, be sure to communicate that a problem exists.
Be clear what will happen if the problem is not addressed.
Is a product at risk of being canceled?
Is it losing market share to a new competitor?
At this point, you want to sell the program, not a specific solution to the problems.
To persuade resistors that a problem exists, use metrics when possible.
Instead of saying your product has lost market share, quantify it.
Also, consider exposing resisters to new people and experiences.
Take them to one of the annual Agile or Scrum conferences.
Let them meet people who have successfully made the changes you're proposing.
Are there people in your organization who are further along with Agile you can introduce them to?
I want to share a little tip about persuasion.
Don't try to convince people with a list of benefits.
If you tell me there are four reasons I should make a change I don't want make, I'm going to pick the weakest of your four points and argue about that.
My argument may not convince you, but I'll convince myself that I've parried that point.
And with one less point in favor of the change you want to make, I'll also convince myself I can continue resisting.
So don't try to persuade someone with a list of reasons Agile is better than what you're doing today.
Instead, focus on one compelling reason.
Let's move on to looking at resistance because of a lack of desire.
These individuals are aware there is a better way.
They simply don't want to do it.
We saw some reasons for a Lack of Desire in the list I gave at the beginning of this video.
Someone may be worried about their job.
A leader may fear a loss of control or authority.
and resistance increases when there's no good answer to what's in it for me.
Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to increase desire.
The most important is to communicate the why behind the change, creating a sense of urgency.
If our product is losing 10% of sales per quarter, I'm a lot more willing to make changes than if we're losing only 1% a year.
To return to my example of learning that homegrown vegetables taste best, suppose you also inform me that they're much more healthful.
That will give me the desire to start my own garden.
Sometimes you can persuade resistors by shifting your attention away from them.
Focus instead on those who are engaged in and enthusiastic about the transition to agile.
Use their desire, to build momentum, since enthusiasm is contagious.
If you can make the change to Agile seem inevitable, that will often reduce resistance.
Our list of reasons for resistance show that some are due to fear.
Address these fears, have private conversations with resistors, and ask what their concerns are.
Never be dismissive of fear and never promise what you cannot, but see if you alleviate fear!
To address concerns about what's in it for me, talk with resistors about the opportunities Agile could bring to their worlds.
Paint the picture that while the future is unwritten, it will bring opportunities to those who notice them.
Increasing someone's desire to change, often by increasing the urgency of the need for that change will move someone to the third step,
having the ability to do what is needed in the new way of working.
If you have a resistor stuck at the ability stage, one of the best things is to provide training and coaching for the person.
Think of better results from my new vegetable garden if a master gardener is there to coach me through it.
A lot of individuals and teams that we work with are in this category.
They have the awareness and desire to change, they just need to acquire new skills to be agile.
If you're not aware of our training options, we have courses for individuals in teams, that range from introductory to advanced with live online classes,
as well as on demand video courses.
You can find out more about what we offer by clicking the links in the description.
You should also create ways for team members to share information with each other.
I remember working with a team that was really struggling with how to incorporate automated testing into a website that had been in place for years and
had developed with no eye toward automation.
Adding automated unit tests was a real challenge for this team.
And I remember the day one of the developers started the morning by announcing that he had some epiphanies the night before and had written 20 unit test.
This was an amazing breakthrough for a team that had managed one automated test the entire previous sprint.
The developer who figured this out shared how he'd done it.
You could tell white bulbs were going off for the other developers.
Finally, create a safe environment for team members to just do it.
Many people have a tendency to hesitate and overthink.
I'd certainly hesitate an over think before jumping out the plane door if I ever did go skydiving.
When team members are practicing a new skill, ensure they know you will value the effort more than the results.
Their efforts at learning new skills should be considered experiments or trials.
More important than succeeding at the new scale is trying until they do succeed.
I always think it's useful to set realistic goals, try to manage expectations of how much a team can accomplish in its early sprints.
Agile can teach us a lot about overcoming resistance.
Attack resistance iteratively and incrementally and you'll succeed.
How have you overcome resistance among any of your colleagues?
Please share your tips and experiences in the comments.
I read and value every comment.
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