People love their workarounds.
They put time and effort into figuring out how to “work around” a system glitch, a policy problem, a road block. And they’re proud of having figured it out.
Now leadership has arrived with a change initiative: a brand new system, a revised policy, a road-block-removal team. And they – leadership – are wondering why people are resisting the change.
“We don’t really need it.” “That’s not going to work any better.” “It’s not broken – see, we’re getting everything done – no fix needed!”
Those workaround champs have a strong sense of ownership in their workaround, and a proud identity as Someone Who Can Figure Things Out.
And the change is going to take all that away.
Plus, now they have to learn a new way of doing things. They’ll wonder if they can learn – will it be complicated? They’ll wonder what new glitches and road-blocks they’ll have to deal with. And they’ll have to mourn the loss of their identity of Workaround Superhero.
This is real, and it’s not irrational. It’s human nature.
Want to learn more about change, identity, workarounds – and how to work with all of this, instead of against it? Drop me a note through my contact form and we’ll set a time to talk.