FREE online courses on Strategies for Managing Change - Using Weak Signals to Manage Change - Managed Resistance Method

 

Of the three approaches discussed above, crisis management should be reserved for emergencies.  The coercive and the adaptive approaches are extreme ways for dealing with change.  The coercive approach is a `damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead' way of overpowering resistance.  Even when optimally managed, it is costly, disruptive and conflict-ridden, but it is a necessary solution under conditions of high urgency.  The adaptive approach is a `Rome was not built in a day' way of introducing change: it minimizes resistance, but it is too slow under conditions of environmental urgency.

 

Hence, there is a need for an intermediate approach which works under conditions of moderate urgency and which can be implemented within the time limits dictated by the environment.  We shall call this approach, the managed resistance, method or managing a discontinuous change. Its salient characteristics are the following:

 

1.                  It is applicable under conditions of moderate urgency, when there is more time than necessary for the coercive method and not enough for the adaptive.

2.                  The duration of the change is tailored to the available time.  As urgency increases, the method moves toward the coercive extreme.  As urgency decreases, it approaches the adaptive change.

3.                  This is made possible by the use of a modular approach: the planning process is subdivided into modules; at the end of each module appropriate implementation projects are launched.

4.                  The conventional idea, that planning and implementation must be sequential, is abandoned in favor of parallel planning and implementation.

5.                  Resistance is minimized and controlled; first, by building a launching platform; second, by using the change motivating sequence within each module; third, by developing implementability during the planning process; and, fourth, by controlling resistance during the change process.

 

The advantage of the managed resistance method is that it tailors the firm's response to the external timing imperatives on the one hand, and to the internal power realities on the other.  The disadvantage is that it is more complex than either of the extreme approaches.  Furthermore, it requires continual attention from top management.

 

Because the know-how necessary for designing and conducting such a complex process will often be lacking in the firm, outside assistance will be needed.  However, the contribution of the outside consultants must be different from the coercive method.  One of the key features of this method, a feature which is essential for enhancing the acceptance of change, is that the implementers must also be planners.

 

Hence the roles of the consultants are: to assist in the design of the process, to supply tools of analysis, to train managers, to help monitor the process, to play the devil's advocate.