To: TEDennis who wrote (1335 ) 4/8/1999 10:56:00 PM From: Razorbak Respond to
Unsolicited AdvicePremise: Anyone who is championing change within an organization should always keep in mind that there are generally four types of people in any group: Stars ... people that are gung-ho and will do whatever it takes to implement their leader's command. These guys/gals never ask questions. You say "Take that hill", and they disappear in a cloud of dust racing up the hill, kicking with both legs and fighting with both fists. These people are quite rare and typically make up less than 10% of the people in any organization.Wait & See'ers (also known as Missourians , from the "show-me" state)... people that want to "wait and see" if the proposed change works before jumping on the change bandwagon. These people make up by far the largest percentage of people in any organization (typically about 70%).Destructive Dissenters ... also known as Blockers and Tacklers ... people that will always tell you that a proposed change simply will not work. Unfortunately, they'll never tell you why, or they'll use an irrational excuse that cannot be defended by logic. Oftentimes, when the excuse proves to be a red herring, or you overcome any initial objections, they'll chose another argument simply to continue opposing change. Or even worse, sometimes they'll actively sabotage the overall plan. In American football parlance, Destructive Dissenters always try to block and tackle, which are activities that are inherently designed resist the intended progress of the other team (i.e., you, the change manager). Typically about 10% of the people in any organization fall into this groupConstructive Dissenters ... Another small subset of people in any organization... people that will also tell you that a proposed change will not work, but they'll also tell you why. Fortunately for you, their reasoning often makes a lot of sense. For example, "That won't work." Why? "Well, we already tried that five years ago, and this, this, and this happened." So if you were doing it again, what would you do differently? "I'd do this, this, and this!" And before you know it, the Constructive Dissenter is no longer part of the problem; they're part of the solution.Question: Which of the different groups should you FOCUS ON to maximize the probability of successfully implementing changes within the organization?
