The situation
I haven't felt well for several days. I lose focus and my productivity drops, I feel tired, etc. I decide to go to the doctor to see what he says and determine the appropriate treatment. He suggests running some tests to aid in the diagnosis and asks me to make a new appointment. That day, when he tells me what I have, I start arguing with him! It's not that! I know what I have! Believe me, I've been living with myself for years! You don't know me well enough. Those remedies aren't going to work at all! Do you know how many times I tried the same thing under a different name and it didn't work?
Astonished, the doctor asks me: Why did you come?
Funny, isn't it? However…
Some companies do the same with their organizational health: It frequently happens that once the analysis stage to understand the causes of the problems that afflict them is over, the “patient” companies begin a “dialogue” stage where they try to make the “company doctor” (better known as a consultant) and themselves believe that, in reality, the organizational “pains” were not that serious, that the proposal is useless, etc.
These are clear symptoms of what we call resistance to change.
Some managers are also tempted to believe that because they have been successful in managing companies in the past, they are in a position to know what the best remedy is now that their companies are sick.
Translated into the realm of personal health, it would be equivalent to saying to the doctor: "Look, doctor, I understand what you're proposing, but I've been taking care of my body for 40 years and I've survived quite well so far, so I think this treatment you're prescribing isn't the most appropriate for my illness." Or, "Look, doctor, you say I should take this antibiotic in a daily dose for seven consecutive days, but I want to tell you that I already know, because I know myself very well, that taking it for two days will be enough."
It seems as though the fact that we are dealing with two completely different types of professional skills is ignored. I may be a very good accountant, but if my doctor tells me I should exercise to stay vital or take this or that medication, it's wise to listen to him, since what he's telling me is based on his own knowledge, which has nothing to do with mine.
As consultants, we regularly encounter patients with these behaviors, who are obviously practically impossible to help because, although they took the initiative to consult a professional, they seem unwilling to follow their recommendations.
Recently, when the company doctor insisted that they take the prescribed treatment seriously, a "patient" responded as follows:
"We've thought it through and believe we're not yet in a position to launch this program given our many internal problems."
In the ears of the consultant (doctor) it was heard like this:
"We're not in a condition to take the prescribed medications because we're still very sick. When we're healed a little, we'll begin treatment and take the medication."
Yes, I know it sounds funny and even grotesque, but the sad thing is that companies often believe they must emerge from a crisis to begin processes of improvement, organization, and development, rather than doing so when the symptoms "flare up."
As experts in Organizational Health, we believe that these behaviors are ultimately symptoms of other very common problems in companies. We are specifically referring to Resistance to Change.
If I say yes to the doctor, if I accept his recommendations, he may force me to abandon habits that are destructive to my organizational and personal health, and that requires paying a price I'm not willing to accept. There will surely be requests to abandon inappropriate behaviors that are causing my current illness, and at the same time, I will have to adopt new, healthier habits aimed at regaining my lost health. And the truth is, it's very difficult for me to do that... After all, I'm not that bad...
Only through a clear vision of the desired future state, critically contrasted with the current condition, and at the same time through the recognition that the doctor possesses knowledge that I must and can draw upon, will we find the strength to carry out the treatment, despite all its risks and difficulties. We must deeply desire to be healthy again, otherwise, our resistance to following the doctor's instructions will overcome.
Every change involves a certain risk. At the beginning of some treatments, one may feel as though the expected results aren't being achieved, but we know there are no quick fixes if we want to eliminate the root cause of a problem.
As with personal medicine, having a doctor's opinion and a written prescription isn't enough to cure us. It's inevitable to make the decision to get better and take the necessary steps to implement that treatment.
See you next time.
Lic. Viviana Liptzis, MDCO
Master in Organizational Development and Behavior
