Resistance to Change

What is Resistance to Change?

Resistance to change is the reluctance or refusal to adapt to new processes, behaviors, or ideas, often due to fear, uncertainty, or a desire to protect existing habits. In the context of organizational behavior, it describes how people push back against changes that disrupt their comfort or control.

The Basic Idea

Imagine that every day you go into the office, you always sit at the corner desk. Even though desks aren’t assigned, you like that spot and feel comfortable there. One day, when you get to the office, you realize all of the desks have been rearranged. You immediately feel anxious and aren’t sure where to sit. One of your coworkers notices you looking around and explains that the desk arrangement was changed from rows to pods that face each other, to facilitate collaboration.

Although panic shouldn’t ensue from a mere rearranging of desks—after all, you get along with all your coworkers, and the new arrangement makes sense—you can’t help but feel unsettled. This is because humans are resistant to change. Our brains are wired to favor predictability and stability, often convincing us that the current way of doing things is the best way, known as the status quo bias. We also fear the unknown, worried that we might fail at something new, which makes us resistant to trying at all. 

Resistance to change can be a big psychological obstacle in both our personal and professional lives, making it difficult for us to implement new actions, processes, or ideas, even when they would lead to improvements. In our fast-paced and ever-changing world, with constantly fluctuating trends, increasing globalization, and technological advancements, it is vital for us to overcome resistance to change if we want to be successful. That’s why companies sometimes have entire departments dedicated to change management, in hopes of effectively getting people on board with change.1

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“The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”2


— Charles Kettering, American inventor and engineer who revolutionized the automobile industry.3

Key Terms

Fear of the Unknown: A common tendency to be afraid of change, as it comes with a certain level of uncertainty. Uncertainty can trigger anxiety and discomfort, with some studies showing that people exhibit greater amounts of stress in uncertain conditions. This fear is why humans prefer to keep things as they are, as there is a level of predictability involved. 4

Force Field Analysis: An analysis of all the different contributing forces that drive behavior, which includes personal experiences, perceptions, and emotions, as well as cultural and societal pressures.5

Loss Aversion: A cognitive bias that describes how the emotional impact of a loss is felt deeper than—potentially twice as much as—the perceived benefits of an equivalent gain. This causes us to avoid decisions that may lead to loss, even if a decision is based on calculated risk. Often, as there is potential for both gain and loss when a change is made, this bias causes resistance to change. 

Status Quo Bias:  A psychological preference for keeping the current state of affairs, contributed to by loss aversion, which leads to resistance to change. 

Change Management: The process of helping an organization move through a transition to effectively implement a desired future state. Change management focuses on people and ways to help them overcome their resistance to change.6

Change Fatigue: A feeling of exhaustion as a result of frequent change. Change fatigue causes people to feel cynical about additional changes and become resistant. It can also lead to decreased motivation and burnout.7

History

German-American social psychologist Kurt Lewin was one of the first to study how people respond to change. Having grown up Jewish in Germany, Lewin was interested in how psychology could help to resolve social conflict. After World War II, at a time when there was great societal upheaval, Lewin witnessed great resistance to change, even when it was clear that change was needed. He established the Research Center for Group Dynamics to explore how behavior could be changed for the better at both an individual and group level.8

Lewin developed an “unfreeze-change-refreeze” model as a three-phased approach to effective change at a group level. During the unfreeze stage, leaders must demonstrate and communicate the need for change in order to break down existing mindsets and create a perception that change is necessary and urgent. Next, the change can be implemented through processes and structures. To support the change, those affected must be involved in the process and have the necessary resources and training to be able to adopt the new behaviors. Lastly, the refreeze phase focuses on embedding the change into the culture and solidifying it as the norm. To illustrate his simple model, Lewin used an analogy of melting a block of ice (unfreeze), molding it into a new shape (change), and freezing it again.9

In 1951, Lewin developed his force field analysis to describe that there are both driving forces and restraining forces that push against each other and influence a person’s behavior. These forces included situational, cultural, and social elements, as well as someone’s unique feelings, experiences, and perceptions.5 He conceptualized resistance to change as a normal and natural counterforce to disruption. This analysis was initially conducted to understand why people struggle when facing a difficult decision, suggesting that the way people internalize what’s happening around them determines whether or not they change.10 However, the analysis went on to be used as a decision-making tool for organizations to identify and evaluate forces that influence change. 

Later, in the 1970s and 80s, psychologists began to explore cognitive biases that contribute to resistance to change. American professors William Samuelson and Richard Zeckhauser introduced the status quo bias. In a series of experiments, participants were asked to embody the role of decision-maker to address hypothetical situations that are often faced by individuals, managers, and even government officials. They found that more often than not, people made decisions aligned with the status quo.11 In some studies, to see if framing impacts people’s decisions, one option was positioned as the status quo. They compared this to a group where all options were presented neutrally and found that participants were significantly more likely to choose the option framed as the status quo, even though the control group showed no preference towards it compared to the alternatives.12 

Cognitive psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman later helped to explain the status quo bias by introducing the loss aversion bias. While at the time, expected utility theory suggested that when presented with two options, people would go for the option that would lead to the best outcomes, they identified that this wasn’t always true in real-life situations. Instead, they suggested that people experience a greater emotional impact from a loss than an equivalent gain, making people less likely to choose an option with risk. To avoid potential loss, people are more likely to keep things as is.3

As organizations grew in the 1990s and the world became more globalized, organizational change emerged as a field to support the effective change required for success. American professor John Kotter published his book Leading Change in 1996, which outlined an eight-step process for leading change. The book helped bring change management into mainstream executive strategy.14

Since then, transformation and disruption have only increased in frequency and intensity, especially with the rapid pace of technological advancements. This has led to large companies creating dedicated management teams, with change management becoming a recognized discipline. Today, there are many certifications and specialized roles helping organizations overcome resistance to change and survive the turbulent market.

People

Kurt Lewin

A German social psychologist who is best known for his field theory of behavior, including his force field analysis. The force field analysis suggests people’s behavior is a product of the interaction of forces stemming from individual preferences, perceptions, and personality (which he calls life space) and situational, cultural, and social elements (called the psychological field).5,15 Growing up Jewish in Germany led Lewin to be deeply interested in group dynamics and behavior, which ultimately led to his passion for organizational psychology.8 He developed the unfreeze-change-refreeze model for overcoming resistance to change, which emphasizes the need to first deconstruct existing mindsets and views to show why change will be an improvement. Later in his career, Lewin also contributed to the development of leadership styles by identifying three styles: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire.16

William Samuelson & Richard Zeckhauser

American professors and psychologists who introduced the status quo bias. Through a series of experiments, they demonstrated that people have a preference for keeping things as they are, reverting to the status quo as a default. Samuelson is currently a professor of economics and finance at Boston University, and his research focuses on game theory, auctions, bargaining, and experimental economics.17 Zeckhauser’s career has focused on decision theory and behavioral economics to inform individuals and governments how to make appropriate decisions. He is currently a professor of political economy at Harvard University.18

Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman

Influential behavioral scientists who have contributed to our understanding of human behavior through their research on bias and heuristics that show why people’s decisions often deviate from rationality and logic. Together, they developed prospect theory, which demonstrates that people experience losses more intensely than equivalent gains. This phenomenon, known as loss aversion, helps explain why individuals often prefer to maintain the status quo rather than risk change.13 Tversky and Kahneman are also well-known for showing how the framing of choices impacts people’s decision-making.19 Tversky went on to focus more on the intersection of psychology and economics later in his career, while Kahneman shifted to researching happiness and well-being. 

John Kotter

An American professor and best-selling author who published Leading Change in 1996, an eight-step guide to help leaders and organizations successfully enact change, a model that is still widely used today.20 Kotter also co-founded Kotter International, a leadership organization that helps large corporation leaders develop the skills required to lead change at scale.21

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Impacts 

Resistance to change can have far-reaching effects that touch individuals, organizations, and society as a whole. While it may serve as a natural defense mechanism, prolonged resistance often hinders growth, progress, and adaptation to new realities.

On the individual

Resistance to change can be a barrier to personal growth and transformation. It can cause stagnancy, preventing us from evolving into better versions of ourselves or passing on opportunities that may improve our lives.

For example, imagine that there’s an opportunity for you to be promoted at work. The promotion would lead to a better salary and also help you develop new skills, but you’re scared. You’ve become comfortable with your day-to-day tasks and are often praised for excelling at your job. In fact, that’s exactly why your boss suggests you apply for the role. What if you’re not up for the challenge?

One way to overcome resistance to change is to better understand what’s behind the emotion. Unfamiliarity tends to make humans uncomfortable, and at work, impostor syndrome often makes us doubt ourselves. Putting this experience in perspective can show you that while these feelings are normal, they do not indicate that you’re inadequate for the new job. It’s just our pesky little brains responding with fear in the face of uncertainty!

By looking inward and exploring these emotions, you can also take a moment to reflect on your personal beliefs and goals. Is career development important to you? Would this role fulfill you? If the potential change aligns with your values, it’s easier for you to recognize that the change is positive and overcome the resistance. 22

On organizations

There’s a famous quote from Greek philosopher Heraclitus that “Change is the only constant in life.” This is definitely true for contemporary organizations that need to evolve with the times in order to survive. One of the biggest obstacles? Employees’ resistance to change. 

Employees’ resistance to change can be detrimental to organizational success. People who resist change show reduced productivity and performance, due to their preoccupation with their anxieties and lack of motivation. It can also contribute to a toxic work environment, where people’s fear of job security can affect morale.23 Not only is the change not implemented effectively, but companies risk actually making things worse.

It’s not just employees who resist change. Sometimes, leaders are also stubborn and too attached to the status quo to identify opportunities to evolve. For example, Kodak was a global leader in selling film in the 1970s. When one of their engineers developed the first digital camera in 1975, they failed to recognize the potential of digital photography. They thought that it would be a hindrance to their current business model, as digital cameras didn’t require film. In fact, they told the engineer, “That’s cute—but don’t tell anyone about it.” The message was clear: let’s stay in our lane and focus on the products currently bringing in revenue.

Kodak’s resistance to change caused the business to file for bankruptcy in 2012. They had clung to the status quo for too long and underestimated how quickly digital photography would disrupt the market. By the time they finally realized its potential, their competitors were too far ahead.24 Kodak serves as an example that just because things are working well now, that doesn’t mean they will continue to, and change must be embraced for an organization to maintain a competitive edge. 

On society

On a macro scale, resistance to change slows down the adoption of policies and innovations, even when they are aimed at improving public well-being. It can be challenging for governments to gain support for any initiatives that deviate from the status quo, because people often associate change with uncertainty, financial risk, or a loss of security.

One example is people’s resistance to acknowledging climate change and their lack of willingness to change their behaviors as a result. While many governments across the world have declared agendas towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, moving away from fossil fuels for renewable energy subsidies, they are struggling to gain support. Even with growing evidence of the damaging effects of pollution, people are slow to adopt the necessary behaviors to fight back against climate change. 

One reason for resistance is job insecurity. In 2022, the fossil fuel industry employed nearly 32 million people globally, and although many of these people have skills that could be instrumental for the clean energy sector, they fear the transition. Emotions are powerful drivers of behavior, and the public pushback often leads to delays. Opposing political parties will also often take advantage of these emotions and promise an alternative agenda in order to gain popularity. 25

Controversies 

Resistance to change is often viewed negatively, but this perspective overlooks important nuances. Sometimes resistance is a rational, protective response that highlights flaws in how change is introduced or challenges deeper ethical and cultural issues.

Framing resistance to change as a natural response

Resistance to change is usually discussed in a negative light, but it may actually be a rational response to change. Resistance to change often comes from a fear of the unknown and legitimate concerns about how the change will impact individuals. If we reframe resistance to change as a natural response, it can help leaders be more thoughtful about the change implementation process.26

Unfortunately, the human factor of change is often ignored in change processes, causing them to fail. Clear communication is an essential part of making employees feel motivated to support the change, but often, leaders do not communicate adequately. Part of the reason is that they forget employees haven’t been privy to the months, or even years, of strategic planning that higher-ups or a particular team have been engaged in. The change comes as a shock and may cause anxiety or confusion.27 

For example, imagine a company decides to undergo a restructuring to improve efficiency. Leaders spend months figuring out the best organizational structure, but wait until just two weeks before to announce it company-wide. For employees, this news feels sudden and threatening. They wonder if their job is on the line, or how they will be able to complete their daily tasks whilst adjusting to the change. This causes them to resist the change, not because they dislike progress, but because they feel blindsided and anxious about how it will affect them. 

If leaders reframe resistance to change as a sign that people do not feel involved in the process and the reason for the change is unclear, then it can help them grasp that a better, more thought-out change management process is required. Instead of blaming people for their natural response to disruption, leaders should explore ways to diminish the resistance, acknowledging that it may indicate a change-management issue rather than a people issue.

Is it ethical to mandate change?

Although resistance to change can impede governments from rolling out interventions aimed at public health, overcoming that resistance through mandates or force may be unethical.

Back in the 1870s, a deadly smallpox pandemic was spreading through Europe. In the Franco-Prussian War, tens of thousands of French soldiers lost their lives to the virus, while Prussia lost fewer than five hundred men. That’s because the Prussian army had been vaccinated against smallpox, while the French army had not. Taking this as evidence that the vaccination would save lives, many European countries passed laws that mandated vaccination. When the virus hit the U.S., many states and municipalities followed suit and mandated the smallpox vaccine, but they were met with great resistance. There were no controls on vaccine quality and safety, and people were concerned about the side effects. Anti-vaccination movements emerged, and people refused to comply, causing governments to take even more extreme measures.

Despite the fact that the vaccine was aimed at improving social well-being, it wasn’t perfect, and vaccines were new—people were rightfully afraid. Instead of trying to combat the resistance through knowledge, governments enforced it through mandates at the cost of basic civil liberties. Although smallpox was eradicated in 1980, following the last natural case in 1977, it begs the question of whether it is ethical to stamp out resistance to change by force.28,29 

One of the impacts of the smallpox pandemic was the establishment of the Biological Control Act of 1902, which was the first system of licensing and regulation of vaccines, which required inspection of production facilities and safety testing of products, thereby making vaccines that hit the market safer. In the end, this case of resistance to change had a positive outcome, ensuring that any interventions had passed strict safety standards.28 

Resistance to the smallpox vaccine was a response to legitimate fears at the time, since early vaccines were inconsistently produced and sometimes contaminated, suggesting that resistance to change can actually reveal blind spots and ensure that new initiatives are implemented thoughtfully and safely. 

Resistance to preserve diversity

Not all resistance to change is about fear or stubbornness—sometimes, it is a way of protecting what matters most. Often, change is led by a homogeneous group of people in power, with minority groups having little to no say in the matter. Resistance can be a sign of trying to preserve cultural identity and fight back against assimilation. 

In the 19th century, Indigenous children in Canada were forced to attend residential schools, with the pretext that Christian education was superior and assimilation into Western society would lead to more prosperous lives. This meant being punished for exhibiting any behaviors related to their Indigenous culture, including speaking the language. Resistance against this kind of change was a matter of survival and cultural preservation. Many children would continue to speak their Indigenous languages in secret or continue to practice cultural traditions such as sewing and beading. Some brave parents hid their children to avoid them being taken to residential schools, despite the fact that they may be imprisoned or pay large fines if caught. What we now know is that these acts of defiance were crucial in the fight against colonial attempts to erase Indigenous identity.30 We must remember that not all change is good, and in some cases, resistance can be a powerful tool.

Case Studies

The QWERTY Keyboard

The QWERTY keyboard, aptly named based on the first six letters in the upper row of the keyboard, has been the standard keyboard since 1873. You’ve probably never stopped to think of why the letters on our keyboard are designed this way. The keys aren’t in alphabetical order, nor does the top row include the letters most commonly used. So why is this keyboard design the most widely used today?

The QWERTY keyboard was designed in 1873 by American inventor Christopher Latham Sholes specifically to address an issue with typewriters. Sholes arranged the letters to reduce jamming by separating commonly paired letters, which inadvertently slowed typing. The design was actually intended to be less effective in terms of speed.31 In 1932, American psychologist August Dvorak created a more efficient keyboard layout. The design was intended to be more ergonomic, comfortable, and allow for faster typing. It was also easier to learn how to touch-type, dividing consonants and vowels, and intended to have a typist move from right hand to left hand. 32

Although Dvorak had taken twelve years to perfect the keyboard design and shown that using it broke typing speed records, the Dvorak keyboard has not been widely adopted. Despite the fact that typewriter jams are no longer an issue, with most of us using computer keyboards, the QWERTY design is still prominent. That’s because of our resistance to change. Adopting the new design would require us to unlearn how we’ve historically typed and learn a new way, disrupting the status quo. 31

This stubborn loyalty to a suboptimal system is a perfect example of resistance to change—our deep-seated preference for the known over the new, even when the new is demonstrably better.

Resistance to technological advancements

One of the areas where we often resist change is with technological advancements. When a new technology is introduced, people often do not understand it, and instead of learning how to integrate the tool into their day-to-day tasks, they reject it. This fear manifests itself in our concerns that technology and/or robots will take over the world one day, which is projected in literature, movies, and art.

However, technological advancement is usually aimed at improving our lives. In order to overcome resistance, technological change must be rolled out effectively. One example that we can learn from was the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)’s iPad initiative. The plan was to provide every student with an iPad, preloaded with the Pearson curriculum, to improve their education. 

Some key mistakes were made in the roll-out of the iPad project, which ultimately led to its demise. For one, the vision for change and the plan for implementation were unclear. Instead of exploring how the integration of technology could address the evolving needs of modern learners, it essentially just used the same curriculum but in a digital format. Additionally, teachers and principals were left out of the decision-making. It was a decision made by Superintendent John Deasy without their consultation. Teachers had no time or training to learn how to integrate the tablets into their classrooms. Instead of being conceived as a tool to improve efficiency, it was seen as an extra burden on their already busy jobs.

The LAUSD iPad initiative is an example of how resistance to change is often a change-management issue. Ultimately, the poor planning led to the initiative being halted in 2014 and the retirement of the superintendent who had launched the project. 33

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Most organizations develop three-to-five-year strategic plans to use as a roadmap for all future decisions made along the way. The issue? It’s nearly impossible to accurately predict how things will unfold this far ahead, leading organizations to all too often fall short of their goals. Especially in today’s world, where there is so much fluctuation, disruption, and advancement in the market, rigid strategic plans set organizations up for failure. In this article, Anjali Chainani, CEO of Anavi Strategies, and Andrés Celin, a strategic planning expert, explore how the more dynamic COM-B model of strategic planning can benefit organizations.

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About the Author

Emilie Rose Jones

Emilie Rose Jones

Corporate Communications Manager, TD

Emilie currently works in Marketing & Communications for a non-profit organization based in Toronto, Ontario. She completed her Masters of English Literature at UBC in 2021, where she focused on Indigenous and Canadian Literature. Emilie has a passion for writing and behavioural psychology and is always looking for opportunities to make knowledge more accessible. 

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