Once we get used to things, we tend to experience difficulties letting go after a while. This goes for so many situations in ourt personal and professional life. Management researchers studied that phenomenon and showed that for getting people really to change, we need strong arguments and very tangible improvements. If change is only a slight improvement, we tend to reject it.
Microsoft updates and their effects
One of the bigtech companies is Microsoft. it has an almost monopoly on Windows computers. If you are not an Apple- person then you will have experienced the numerous Microsoft updates. Unless you untick the box after installation, you regularly get updates. For as far as I know and have experienced, none of these updates passed without hassle. Moreover, it feels like these recent years the hassle increases dramatically. Updating software has become a global sport: providers update their software at a tremendous pace. You have only got used to one update, or the next one is around. Whe you google microsoft updates, you see a battlefield full of frustrated comments of users. One thing many of them have in common is that they do not see the difference after an update, except the usual hassle. This makes it highly unprobable that people are going to like future updates. And above all, the significant ones, the ones that could really make a difference, are not delivered within the promised and announced deadlines. Customers get unsatisfied but stay with Microsoft, as there is no viable alternative.
If you keep on changing in your company without people feeling and experiencing the difference in a positive way, you may experience the Microsoft syndrom yourself as well. Change should make a significant step forward, if not: forget about it and keep the status-quo.
Even inconvenient status-quo is better than a small improvement
Moreover people tend to stick with situations that are far from optimal. They are used to something inconvenient, as long as this is do-able. After a while they seem to have peace with it. Think of your home: you may have repairments to do, but after a year it shows you haven’t done it. And you are fine with it. Even more: you have come to like the broken thing, because “it still works”…… in some way or another. It has even gained your sympathy; it is part of the household now. The same goes in businesses: how often have you not experienced a customer service process that is obsolete? Clients even have stopped complaining about it, as they did not see any response to their complaint. And people working for the company sometimes make a joke about the process, but do not bother changing it.
2,5
Research shows that the advantages of a change (process) should outweigh 2,5 the inconvenience of the current situation. For that we first need to show people how much it cost if they do not move and stick to the old situation. Once we got that right, we can start promoting the advantages of the new situation. People simply do not realize that not changing is also a costly thing. Habit is powerful phenomenon. for habit we are willing to make a lot of costs, but at the same time we tend not to open our conscious mind for calculating these costs. That’s were change catalysts can give a helping hand: that push in the back to get people take the hurdle and embrace change.
Do you also experience change barriers and hurdles at work, in life? We can help you cross the bridge and move forward in business, in life. We’d like to hear from you.