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Our department is in the process of undergoing some restructuring. It seems no matter what solution is suggested, a certain group of people consistently resist any sort of change whatsoever. It's as if their identity is attached to a certain departmental structure or name or leadership the way they are so objectionable to any change, even when making no changes is clearly leading the department down the drain. This happened the last place I worked, too. Administration told the department to make some new changes, the members of the department refused to change, fought tooth and nail against it, and the result was administration dissolved the department and forced everyone to seek new homes.
So, I'm sure this is something psychologists and sociologists must have studied extensively, especially in corporate settings where it's not uncommon for companies to undergo reorganization and people get shuffled around to different departments.
Here are a few questions I have about this:
Why are people so resistant to such changes, even when their job is not in any way jeopardized by the change, but could be if things don't change?
Are there ways to persuade them to see the benefits of and accept the change?
Is there anything that can be done when hiring/training new people (in this case, I'm thinking particularly of graduate student training, but could be something done when hiring new faculty too...formal or informal training) that would lead them to be more open to such changes when they encounter them later?
Or, is it just a matter of experience? I've never been in a department that wasn't undergoing changes while I was there, so I'm pretty comfortable with the idea (as an undergrad, my college completely revised the core curriculum mid-way, and the department for my major underwent major restructuring in terms of location, organization, areas of focus, classes taught, etc.; as a grad student, the dept chair left shortly after I arrived and we had a series of interim chairs, and a new chair was finally successfully recruited only after I graduated; my post-doc was in that program that was dissolved; and now I'm in a dept that's again undergoing changes...maybe I'm just a jinx ) Does that make it easier for me to see the benefits of making the changes because I've lived through the consequences of resisting change as well as survived previous changes, so know it's not going to affect me in any way other than the name of the dept on my business card? Would somebody who has always had stable leadership be more resistant because there is more uncertainty about the process for them? If so, how can someone like me help them through that process?
Anyway, if anyone knows of good studies on this, sources of constructive approaches to dealing with it, or even anecdotal reports of what has or hasn't worked for you, I'd like to hear it.
So, I'm sure this is something psychologists and sociologists must have studied extensively, especially in corporate settings where it's not uncommon for companies to undergo reorganization and people get shuffled around to different departments.
Here are a few questions I have about this:
Why are people so resistant to such changes, even when their job is not in any way jeopardized by the change, but could be if things don't change?
Are there ways to persuade them to see the benefits of and accept the change?
Is there anything that can be done when hiring/training new people (in this case, I'm thinking particularly of graduate student training, but could be something done when hiring new faculty too...formal or informal training) that would lead them to be more open to such changes when they encounter them later?
Or, is it just a matter of experience? I've never been in a department that wasn't undergoing changes while I was there, so I'm pretty comfortable with the idea (as an undergrad, my college completely revised the core curriculum mid-way, and the department for my major underwent major restructuring in terms of location, organization, areas of focus, classes taught, etc.; as a grad student, the dept chair left shortly after I arrived and we had a series of interim chairs, and a new chair was finally successfully recruited only after I graduated; my post-doc was in that program that was dissolved; and now I'm in a dept that's again undergoing changes...maybe I'm just a jinx ) Does that make it easier for me to see the benefits of making the changes because I've lived through the consequences of resisting change as well as survived previous changes, so know it's not going to affect me in any way other than the name of the dept on my business card? Would somebody who has always had stable leadership be more resistant because there is more uncertainty about the process for them? If so, how can someone like me help them through that process?
Anyway, if anyone knows of good studies on this, sources of constructive approaches to dealing with it, or even anecdotal reports of what has or hasn't worked for you, I'd like to hear it.