Overcoming Resistance to Change

Overcoming Resistance to Change

John Anderson

Brandman University

        A few years back, I was stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton Virginia.  I was a member of a small shop consisting of only 11 people.  It was our mission to make sure all cargo and passengers that came into or left Langley did so under our watch.  We were directly responsible for ensuring whatever we placed on that aircraft was done so safely and in strict compliance with our regulations as well as federal aviation regulations.  Despite the size of our shop, we always, without delay or incident, loaded each plane and ensured it made it to it’s destination where the warfighter needed it.  Our operation was fluid and flawless.  We were out to prove that we did not need anyone watching over us.  We were showing we could handle anything alone.

One Monday morning we all arrived for work and noticed a new sign in front of our building.  This sign said Small Air Terminal OIC. We all stood outside for a minute and scratched our heads wondering just what this was or meant.  When we made it inside we were greeted by our new boss.  A young Lieutenant fresh out of the Academy.  The week prior was the last time we as a shop ever worked as fluidly as we had before.  Change was coming and before we knew it, it was already being implemented.  Each person reacted differently, as the text states, “Individuals vary considerably in their dispositional resistance to change.” (Palmer, Dunford & Akin, 2009) Our new boss had immediately began changing our schedules, work hours, processes and most notably, he had introduced a quality assurance element to the job.  While none of the members of my team objected to quality assurance they objected to creating additional tasks in a process of very few steps.  

The shop could not understand what had happened, or why and if they had anything to do with it.  For many of the members of the team, the new bosses approach gave very little consideration to personal lives and family matters.  This negatively impacted their lives when they were not in uniform and brought on a viewpoint that he simply did not care about their personal lives much less their lives when at work.  This system immediately drove resistance.  For most of the shop, it was a simple explanation of why and how but for others, they could not simply grasp that there was a new boss in town and he was going to change the way we conducted business.  When the junior members stated to come to myself and some of the more senior members with their concerns, we owed it to them to not say “I don’t know” but to say “I don’t have the answer right now but I will run it down for you and get back to you as soon as possible.”  This created more confidence between the members of my team and the leaders.  It showed that despite the change that was happening, we still had their back and even if we didn’t have the right answers, we would do our best to make sure they understood.