The Most Neglected Aspect of Change Management

We've all heard the adage, "People don't like change." What I've found is that people don't dislike change so much as they dislike the way it is often implemented.
It's easy to confuse their discontent with the implementation process as resistance to change itself. No one can survive in today's world without accommodating change. But accommodating it and accepting it are two different matters.
While we have a vast array of books, seminars, workshops, and podcasts on managing change, there is one aspect of change which these programs rarely address. And it's a major contributor, I've found, to people's discontent with change initiatives.
Thomas Sowell famously noted that there are no solutions, only tradeoffs. That's particularly true with major change. Something must be given up in order to take advantage of the benefits of the change.
But if what must be given up is something treasured or enjoyed, the tradeoff brings sadness. And if leadership fails to take that sadness into consideration, they are likely to misread a worker's reaction as opposition to change, when in reality, it's mere hesitancy to embrace something new until there has been time to process the loss of something they value.
This episode explores the "sad" side of change. It looks at a classic example of a company which failed to do so, and the dysfunction which resulted put them out of business.
A transcript of this program is available for download at https://www.upsizeyourleadership/transcripts/2315-sad-truth-about-change.pdf.
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