The Real Reason People Won't Change
www.hbr.org
It’s a psychological dynamic called a “competing commitment,” and until managers understand how it works and the ways to overcome it, they can’t do a thing about change-resistant employees.
The Real Reason People Won’t Change by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
Included with this full-text Harvard Business Review article: 50 Article Summary The Idea in Brief—the core idea The Idea in Practice—putting the idea to work 51 The Real Reason People Won’t Change 59 Further Reading A list of related materials, with annotations to guide further exploration of the article’s ideas and applications
Reprint R0110E
The Real Reason People Won’t Change
The Idea in Brief
Tearing out your managerial hair over employees who just won’t change—especially the ones who are clearly smart, skilled, and deeply committed to your company and your plans for improvement? Before you throw up your hands in frustration, listen to recent psychological research: These otherwise valued employees aren’t purposefully subversive or resistant. Instead, they may be unwittingly caught in a competing commitment —a subconscious, hidden goal that conflicts with their stated commitments. For example: A project leader dragging his feet has an unrecognized competing commitment to avoid tougher assignments that may come his way if he delivers too successfully on the current project. Competing commitments make people personally immune to change. Worse, they can undermine your best employees’—and your company’s—success.
COPYRIGHT © 2001 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
The Idea in Practice
Use these steps to break through an employee’s immunity to change: DIAGNOSE THE COMPETING COMMITMENT Take two to three hours to explore these questions with the employee: “What would you like to see changed at work, so you could be more effective, or so work would be more satisfying?” Responses are usually complaints—e.g., Tom, a manager, grumbled, “My
It’s a psychological dynamic called a “competing commitment,” and until managers understand how it works and the ways to overcome it, they can’t do a thing about change-resistant employees.
The Real Reason People Won’t Change by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
Included with this full-text Harvard Business Review article: 50 Article Summary The Idea in Brief—the core idea The Idea in Practice—putting the idea to work 51 The Real Reason People Won’t Change 59 Further Reading A list of related materials, with annotations to guide further exploration of the article’s ideas and applications
Reprint R0110E
The Real Reason People Won’t Change
The Idea in Brief
Tearing out your managerial hair over employees who just won’t change—especially the ones who are clearly smart, skilled, and deeply committed to your company and your plans for improvement? Before you throw up your hands in frustration, listen to recent psychological research: These otherwise valued employees aren’t purposefully subversive or resistant. Instead, they may be unwittingly caught in a competing commitment —a subconscious, hidden goal that conflicts with their stated commitments. For example: A project leader dragging his feet has an unrecognized competing commitment to avoid tougher assignments that may come his way if he delivers too successfully on the current project. Competing commitments make people personally immune to change. Worse, they can undermine your best employees’—and your company’s—success.
COPYRIGHT © 2001 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
The Idea in Practice
Use these steps to break through an employee’s immunity to change: DIAGNOSE THE COMPETING COMMITMENT Take two to three hours to explore these questions with the employee: “What would you like to see changed at work, so you could be more effective, or so work would be more satisfying?” Responses are usually complaints—e.g., Tom, a manager, grumbled, “My