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02/15 PERSONALquarterly
and you don’t have to agree with those who do resist but
you should make an effort to understand them. I would
be worried if no one openly resisted the change I want to
implement …
Apart from experiencing change fatigue, another major
challenge to overcoming resistance is how we sell change.
Learning from Armenakis and Harris’ Change Message we
know that the following issues should be addressed through
a message of change from the very beginning of an ini
tiative: (1) Discrepancy (Is change really necessary?); (2)
Efficacy (Can we do it?); (3) Appropriateness (Is this the
change required?); (4) Principal support (Are our senior
managers and leaders committed to this change?); and (5)
Personal valence (What is in it for me/my group?). Get this
right from the outset and you may experience lower levels
of change resistance.
PERSONALquarterly:
What are according to you the future chal-
lenges with regards to change management?
Rune Todnem By:
Nobody knows what is around the corner, and
we should acknowledge and prepare for this fact. How do
we do that? Well, we keep our eye on the ball. We stay ready
for the expected and unexpected. We focus on our core busi-
ness and every organisational sinew is pulling in the same
direction. Furthermore, we encourage a culture of trust and
shared and devolved leadership and active followership.
Leadership as an activity and energy is something we can
all contribute to and be part of, and combined with active
followership we should be able to take on increasing levels
of responsibility, ownership, accountability and pride.
Let’s have the courage to not always be right or to have all
the answers. Let’s enter conversations with those we dis-
agree with. Let’s provide space for constructive conflict in
order for us to grow together.
The future challenge of change management is the same as
it is today: to recruit and retain the right individuals whose
ambitions and capabilities are aligned with those of the
organisation, and enable them to deliver on their potential.
There is a great need to gain further knowledge about the
psychology of change. We need to understand both the po-
sitives and negatives: what makes people tick; seek challen-
ges; continually improve; support those around them; lead;
make decisions; take risks etc, and why do people feel fear,
anxiety, uncertainty and so on. Once we have a greater un-
derstanding of these factors we must explore implications
for the organisations we work in.
„Change is nothing to be protected from because it
is part of life. So why not embrace it and turn the
change into a strength?“
Professor Rune Todnem By
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
ResearchGate:
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Follow Professor By on Twitter: @Prof_RuneTBy
