Have you ever tried to change the way someone else does something (anything) by convincing them that you have a better way, or a better idea for how to do it? How’d that go for you? Imagine trying to go through the same process on a larger scale in an organization where your “better way” had to be adopted or accepted by a group of employees. That’s essentially what this chapter is about.

Admittedly, there are as many kinds of driving forces as restraining forces. However, the chapter concentrates on restraining forces and specifically those originating with the employees. It’s important to remember the six reasons why employees resist change, because these are commonly found in all organizations, and some of these reasons may show up on a case, or scenario-type question.

Once you have identified the reason(s) for resistance in a given case, it is very likely you will be asked in a follow up question what you might recommend. That’s where the six methods or strategies for minimizing resistance come into play. It’s best to remember those as well. Within that list, there’s an implicit hierarchy of sorts. That is to say, the first method you should start with is communication. The last one is coercion –but be careful here. If you do happen to mention coercion as a possible strategy, make sure you include all sorts of provisos along with it; otherwise your prof will likely take exception to it and provide you with a bunch of circumstances when coercion shouldn’t be used.

Lastly, this chapter is not overly abstract, but it does require you to concentrate on the various lists (sometimes called laundry lists) that are presented and explained. Another feature of this chapter relates to how well it ties- in with some previous chapters such as communication, power, negotiation, and even the MARS model. Make use of the stuff you learned in previous chapters to gain a deeper understanding of the change process.