Objective: Apply course content to real organizational situations.
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Class5UnderlyingProblemsResistance.pptxMGMT 670 Underlying Problems & Resistance to Change
Dayna Herbert Walker, Ph.D.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this video, students should be able to:
Distinguish between underlying and presenting problems
Identify common sources of resistance to organizational change
Recognize ways to manage resistance to organizational change
Underlying Problems
Underlying vs Presenting Problems
Presenting problems (symptoms): Initial explanations of the situation that highlight symptoms
Underlying problems (causes): Root cause; fundamental issues that are producing the symptoms
OD is Evidence-Driven: We need valid data to diagnose underlying problems.
Remember back to our $1 bill game . . . .
Clients may *think* they know what the problem is and that there is no need to gather data. After all, they’ve seen examples of the problem many times. However, clients may have a limited perspective (employees are reluctant to tell their bosses bad news or to say how they really feel about something). Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees, to stand back and look at the whole system. That is where data gathering comes in.
Michelle presents Seth with a laundry list of presenting problems – her team’s “world-class” training programs are gathering dust in the regions as the regional HR heads just do their own local trainings, budget cuts loom in the future, her internal customers (i.e, sales reps, customer service providers) don’t have the necessary knowledge about the products to be able to help the external customers. Michelle also has a solution: regional training managers should report to her and her team at headquarters.
But do we know enough to trust Michelle and her diagnosis and solution? How could we find out more?
If you act on a request for training because that is what the client sees as the problem, but the issue is really a motivational deficiency due to poor job design (low job autonomy, low feedback, low task significance, low task identity etc.), then no amount of training will ever solve the problem.
Application 1!
A manager reaches out to you for help with her team. She says they are not taking initiative and need some leadership training.
Before agreeing to the training, you interview some of her employees and learn that the manager requires that she sign-off on nearly every decision.
What is the symptom and what is the cause here?
Application 2!
A Director reaches out to you to provide coaching to an employee who yells at and belittles his direct reports (several of them have complained to HR). You learn that this employee has never experienced consequences as a result of his actions because he is considered a “star” performer.
What is the symptom and what is the cause here?
Resistance to Change
Resistance to Change
Resistance is a normal and natural reaction to change
Recognize resistance is not always a bad thing. It can be helpful:
Can clarify purpose
Keeps the change conversation going
Can enhance the quality of the change
Can provide additional data
Can build commitment
The question is not how can we eliminate resistance but rather how can we manage and learn from it?
Example: a coaching client I worked with once (a museum director) rationalized away feedback she received from her team that suggested she was aloof and not relatable.Some of the comments from her staff were, indeed, harsh (the comments were verbatim responses to a 360 assessment), but instead of facing the underlying message behind those comments (which would have been psychologically painful) she moralized the results, saying that her staff simply don’t understand or shouldn’t be involved in her day to day decisions.
Effectively Dealing with Client Resistance
Don’t take it personally or get defensive
Leverage the resistance as an opportunity for dialogue and to generate greater understanding
Honor it
Ask questions to understand the source of resistance
Monitor it over time
Resistance has positive benefits: Can clarify purpose Keeps the change conversation going Can enhance the quality of the change Can provide additional data Can build commitment
Why do clients resist? In the problem or solution, there is some difficult reality that the client has had a hard time seeing and confronting. Much resistance has as its core either control or vulnerability.
Applications to OD
Applications to OD
In any organizational change effort, there will be what you initially think is the problem (symptom) and then there is the real problem (cause). Focus on the cause.
You will often face resistance. Don’t fight it or ignore it or assume the “resistors” are in the wrong. Try to understand where they are coming from (the underlying problem) and work towards a solution.
But also don’t spin your wheels spending all of your energy on these folks.
Inside every cynical person there is a disappointed idealist – George Carlin
Wrapping Up
By the end of this video, students should be able to:
Distinguish between underlying and presenting problems
Identify common sources of resistance to organizational change
Recognize ways to manage resistance to organizational change
