Dear Mr. President,
I know you have many czars and consultants as well as many Americans who would love to offer you advice on your present Health Care Plan. I, too, would like to offer some brief insights, not on the Health Care Plan (not enough space for that) but in the process by which you are trying to accomplish your objective in getting it passed. You see, Mr. President, I have worked with, and continue to work with companies who are trying to change any number of things within the organization or their people or even within themselves and they have the same type of problems you are having. So if I may sir, here are some important points to remember:
1. There is a difference between adaptive change and technical change. An example of technical change is changing the time on the clock to Daylight Savings time. Simple. Adaptive change is getting used to the change physically, mentally, behaviorally, attitudinally, etc. Complex. Don't confuse a simple change with an adaptive one! If you do, confusion, resistance, resentment and anger increases. "Why does it increase," you ask, Mr. President? Good question, sir.
2. Because adaptive change challenges a person's sense of competence, how they see themselves and define who they are. Therefore adaptive changes need smaller steps, experiments, new discoveries and time for people to 'own' their response.
3. Mr. President, people don't resist change as much as they resist the possible 'loss' they perceive they will have. They may perceive they will lose control. They will lose who they are, what they have worked for, what they stand for. Most people like the status quo, it's more comfortable and they have come to believe it's the safest place to be.
4. The deeper the change required and the greater the amount of education needed, the more resistance there will be. You can expect people to react and attack you personally (vs. the change you want to make). Most of us only know you as Mr. President and the role you play and not the husband and dad you are. So the way you handle the attacks that are made against you personally (vs. the change) will ultimately determine your personal fate, sir. All you have to do is look at the way your predecessors handled the 'heat' (Mr. Reagan and Mr. Clinton would be good examples for 'how to' and 'not to' handle the heat when making changes in my opinion).
5. If people believe there is nothing they can do about the changes being pushed upon them then they will look for alternatives. If the alternatives provided are not acceptable, then you can expect people to actively find ways to compete against and defeat your plan.
6. And finally Mr. President, just because you have authority to make changes doesn't mean people will follow you. Becoming powerful is because people are loyal to you as a person not your position. So be an example in the adaptive changes you suggest and 'you go first'. Lead by example.
Thank you for your time sir,
rb
P.S. The above thoughts to the President are meant strictly as an allegory for how most people respond to changes whether in business, education, churches, and even families.
Finally, a quote I ran across that I'm curious as to your response: "Remember we don't really create meaning; we find it. And we can't find it unless we look for it. Although we are not always aware of it, meaning is present in every moment even in what we may view as the darkest hours of our lives."
Posted on
Wed, November 11, 2009
by Ron Beasley
filed under