Changes are occurring

Who stole my cheese?

This is a story about 4 little beings, which have human characteristics. Two of them are mice, and the other two are little “humans”. All four of them face an unexpected change, the cheese that is necessary for their survival is gone and they are forced to wander through the labyrinth to find it.

The cheese is a metaphor for what every person expects from life (good job, serious relationship, money, estate, health or spiritual peace), something that we wish and that we need so that we can be able to live.

The labyrinth is a metaphor for the place where we are seeking it: family, work organization, community in which we live. Actually, the four little beings represent parts of our character, without regard to our race, sex, nationality or social background. Sometimes we smell the changes on time, sometimes we run into action without thinking, sometimes we reject to face the needs for change, sometimes, though, we adjust to the changes if we feel that it will lead towards improvement.

The changes are inevitable, says Isac Adizes, one of the creators of the change theory, but every change causes problems. The problems should be solved, and not avoided. However, almost every one of us feels resistance towards the changes just because of the problems that then occur. The reaction of people with regard to organizational changes is the same as in the every day life. Spencer Johnson in “Who stole my cheese” says: “What would I do now if I weren’t afraid?” So, the basic obstacle for implementing the changes is the fear, fear from the new, unexpected, fear from losing the positions, or generally fear from change. The fear blocks us and disables us to face the reality, and the changes are inevitable, “everything flows, everything changes”. The managers in the organizations face many problems dealing with the resistance for changes. Basically, there are four reasons why people in the organizations feel resistance towards the changes.

The first reason is that people simply don’t understand, i.e. can’t follow what they are actually talking about. They don’t have enough information and they can’t understand where the change leads and what is the final aim. The second reason is that people don’t have enough time to include in the change process. They can’t handle the every day tasks and simultaneously participate in the change process. The third reason is that people don’t possess enough abilities to deal with the new tasks and obligations that they would get after the change. This is a very understandable reaction, because if they get included in the change process, actually they will show they aren’t competent. The fourth reason for resistance towards changes is that people simply don’t believe in the values because of which the change is done. They simply believe that the change is a mistake and that the process shouldn’t have started at all.

In all these situations, the manager of the organization should have his own strategies, ways with which to handle the resistance for change in his own organization.

If the manager considers that the reason for resistance is because people don’t understand the change (the first reason), the way with which he responds to the resistance towards the change is strengthened communication. It should be explained to the people in the organization why, how, when and what will be changed. At the same time they should be careful the message to the employees not only to be delivered, but also accepted.

Dealing with the second reason for resistance towards changes, not having time, by the manager’s point of view is very simple. He/she can recommend to the employees to reprioritize the issues or to be freed from the other work tasks in the period when they implement the changes. Considering, though, that the reason for resisting the changes is the fear from new responsibilities, the overcoming is especially complicated. The first thing that should be done is to determine whether the person that shows resistance towards the change has a potential to develop new skills and knowledge necessary for the new responsibilities in the “new world”. If the potentials exist, the manager should direct the employee and invest in him, giving him competence for the new responsibilities. If, though, the employee doesn’t have potential or isn’t interested in the new challenges, the only solution is to help the employee leave the organization more easily. Leaving the organization should be accompanied by thankfulness and respect for the work done so far and to insist to make the situation in which two sides lose as easy as possible.

In the fourth situation the managers should react much stricter. The employee who has a resistance towards changes because he considers that the change process shouldn’t be initiated at all, is a danger for the whole process. The manager will spend much more energy to overcome the resistance than to dedicate to the changes. Thus, that employee should leave the organization as quickly as possible.

And let’s go back to the little beings, who passing through the labyrinth came to the key information about the changes. One of them wrote the changes on one wall of the labyrinth.

 

-         THE CHANGES ARE OCCURRING
Someone removes the cheese all the time
 

-         FORESEE THE CHANGES
Prepare for losing the cheese
 

-         MONITOR THE CHANGES
Smell the cheese frequently so that you will know when it’s starts going off
 

-         ADJUST TO THE CHANGES QUICKLY
The more quickly you overcome the Old Cheese, the sooner you will enjoy the New

 

-         CHANGE YOURSELF
Go after the cheese


-         ENJOY THE CHANGES
Enjoy the adventure and the taste of the New Cheese
 

-         BE READY TO CHANGE QUICKLY AND TO ENJOY THAT
The cheese is always disappearing. The basic rule for successful management of the organization, and the personal life as well: look for the cheese and enjoy the search.

Liljana Alceva
trainer/associate at the MCIC