The Nature of Change

While I am a vocal advocate for thorough change planning, I know virtually all changes will meet with resistance during the implementing and sustaining phases. Change leaders must anticipate resistance and be prepared to deal with it.

Marketing experts have known for many years that there is an adoption curve for new ideas and fashions. The following figure depicts six different categories of people adopting change at various speeds:



While it’s possible that an entire stakeholder group would fall into one of the six categories, it is highly unlikely. Typically, individual members of a stakeholder group will be dispersed across the six categories. It’s necessary to have an implementation plan to deal with individuals in each category.

From a strategic perspective, it is important to focus on innovators and early adopters first. Innovators are the most open to change; they are the first to embrace something new. Early adopters follow soon after. It’s critical to get these people on board as quickly as possible.

The good news is that it is not necessary to have everybody on board initially. Research tells us that we only need 5-10% of the people adopting the change for the change to be “imbedded” in the organization. And, an adoption rate of 20-25% makes the change “unstoppable.” Whether you agree with those numbers, or not, isn’t the point. The important point is that it is not necessary to have 100% buy-in initially.

These adoption rates vary, of course, based on who adopts first. If senior leaders and opinion leaders adopt first, lower numbers are sufficient. If senior leaders and opinion leaders do not adopt early, larger numbers are necessary to implement the change.

The focus of the change leaders should not be on the late majority or late adopters. They will follow the innovators and early adopters.

Since diehards refuse to accept the change they must be warned, transferred, or dismissed. Rarely is it wise to spend limited resources on the diehards.

To read more about this and related organizational change issues, purchase a copy of my book, “Strategic Organizational Change,” on my website www.mikebeitler.com. Please feel free to contact me anytime.