> From: tpians@cix.compulink.co.uk (Ian Saunders)
> Date: Tue, 7 Jan 97 10:15 GMT0
> [snip]
> It may be making a seemingly semantic point that it is things that are
> changing not us and yet when we become involved in change programmes,
> personal development programmes etc, we are trying to get people to
> develop, even change. At best this will take time, lots of it and
> whilst this is going on technology races forwards compared to our
> crawl.
>
> How do we reconcile these differences of pace. We generally seem to
> want the benefits of technology and I continually find it difficult
> to get people to acknowledge their need to change (especially at
> senior levels)?
> How do we learn to cope with, manage, make best use of,
> 'things/technologies' that make us learn and change faster than we are
> comfortable with?
Philosophically, technology & method has advanced so fast exactly bec
human nature has not changed very much. It is the same desire for money,
power, etc that human has retained for centuries that motivates human to
improve/invent new technologies & methods, and now at a faster rate.
Technology and method is just a tool for human to get what they desire.
If we want people to learn & implement the new technology/method, there
needs to be a connection between them changing and them getting what they
desire. If we can convince the "change target" that our "change
programme" will get them what they desire (monetary and/or non-monetary),
then they will change.
Take as an example a change programme for a large pharmacy chain that
involves changing how the employees do their daily work and utilizes a new
info sys. Why did the employees embrace the change readily? Because they
are convinced that the result of the change programme will help them get
what they desire. Order tracking and minimized error eliminates
complaints, thus less stress. The new info sys frees them from the
mundane/boring work, thus more meaningful job. Satisfied customers
results in more revenue, thus bigger bonus.
A lot of time people cannot relate to change, and sometimes relate
negatively to change. Hence the change resistance. IMHO, the key is
convincing people to relate positively to the change we're advocating.
(Change can be anything, be it BPR, LO, internet commerce, electric car,
microwave, or whatever. And people is not just organization, but family
and individual as well.)
- sh
-- s_hendry@dnet.net.idLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>