This will not work here
"This will not work here" is a sentence I often hear from practitioners.
When I was young and naive, I trusted that my colleagues with their high experience can judge in advance what will work and what will not.
Meanwhile, I have seen that "This will not work here" is a sentence applied not only to highly sophisticated methods from University doctoral theses which cause more effort than they save. No, it is an almost automatic reaction to all types of changes proposed, even to lightweight methods which were developed and successfully applied by other practitioners. "This will not work here" in fact very rarely wants to say that this will not work here. This short sentence can express, summarize and hide a lot of other types of claims, such as:
- This method does not fit to our way of working / product / already applied methods.
- We have tried so much else before, we are tired of trying new methods.
- This was not invented here, therefore we dislike it. We want to realize our own ideas, not those of foreigners / those of you.
- If we use this method, then everyone can do good work. Currently, project success depends on the knowledge of one person only and I am this important person.
- I / we hate any type of change. We do not want to learn anything new and get upset at work. Life is too irritating anyway.
- We are past the life phase where one learns new things. It´s over, do not try to teach an old dog new tricks.
- You are not the person who has the right or competence to tell me how I should do my work.
- Are you dissatisfied with my work?
- You are not the first one who tries to mingle in our work style, but you will fail like the others before you.
- In this company/ team, nothing will ever work. New methods will simply enhance the chaos.
Whatever the real meaning(s) behind "This will not work here" is/ are, it touches the change management problem. A new method is not simply a new method. It can mean a new way of thinking, of seeing the world and oneself´s role, a new working style and working speed.
The first step for managing change here is to find out what the real meaning of "This will not work here" is. Asking directly "What does this mean?" can lead to further nebulous arguments that hide the real causes for resistance. Instead, you can ask the following questions to indirectly find out:
- This method is meant to solve the following problem... Do you know any other method that can solve this problem better?
- Could we simplify and adapt the method in a way that it works better?
- Why were the methods you tried earlier unsuccessful?
- What extra tasks would this method cause you to do and what risks do you see?
- Are there single persons who could, should and would use the method first as pilot users?
- Who of you can judge best whether the method makes sense in your environment?
When you know the reason for resistance, you can decide how to introduce the method or also can decide not to try it. There is nothing worse than trying to introduce a new method against the will of the stakeholders and to fail. It is better to propose a method and then to wait whether the seed will grow. It is possible that after some months, in a meeting, the team reanimates the idea and now likes it, after they have got used to it and thought about it.
At least, this is how I convince people. I never expect them to change their mind just because I give them arguments. And I dislike rhethorical tricks because intelligent people after some days realize that they have been tricked. Usually, I also give people time.
This is probably one major problem in change projects: They do not have time. They must force change upon their victims à la "Who is not for us, is against us". However, most people are just undecided or slow. Who of us likes it when someone comes along, points to an awkward self-organisation and tells you that you MUST change. For pure stubborness, the spontaneous reaction is "No!". One is currently struggling elsewhere, solving other problems. It is not so nice to be told that there are even more problems which need attention and action. One can solve only one problem after the other. Additionally to problem-solving, we are still busy doing the daily work.
When I was young and naive, I trusted that my colleagues with their high experience can judge in advance what will work and what will not.
Meanwhile, I have seen that "This will not work here" is a sentence applied not only to highly sophisticated methods from University doctoral theses which cause more effort than they save. No, it is an almost automatic reaction to all types of changes proposed, even to lightweight methods which were developed and successfully applied by other practitioners. "This will not work here" in fact very rarely wants to say that this will not work here. This short sentence can express, summarize and hide a lot of other types of claims, such as:
- This method does not fit to our way of working / product / already applied methods.
- We have tried so much else before, we are tired of trying new methods.
- This was not invented here, therefore we dislike it. We want to realize our own ideas, not those of foreigners / those of you.
- If we use this method, then everyone can do good work. Currently, project success depends on the knowledge of one person only and I am this important person.
- I / we hate any type of change. We do not want to learn anything new and get upset at work. Life is too irritating anyway.
- We are past the life phase where one learns new things. It´s over, do not try to teach an old dog new tricks.
- You are not the person who has the right or competence to tell me how I should do my work.
- Are you dissatisfied with my work?
- You are not the first one who tries to mingle in our work style, but you will fail like the others before you.
- In this company/ team, nothing will ever work. New methods will simply enhance the chaos.
Whatever the real meaning(s) behind "This will not work here" is/ are, it touches the change management problem. A new method is not simply a new method. It can mean a new way of thinking, of seeing the world and oneself´s role, a new working style and working speed.
The first step for managing change here is to find out what the real meaning of "This will not work here" is. Asking directly "What does this mean?" can lead to further nebulous arguments that hide the real causes for resistance. Instead, you can ask the following questions to indirectly find out:
- This method is meant to solve the following problem... Do you know any other method that can solve this problem better?
- Could we simplify and adapt the method in a way that it works better?
- Why were the methods you tried earlier unsuccessful?
- What extra tasks would this method cause you to do and what risks do you see?
- Are there single persons who could, should and would use the method first as pilot users?
- Who of you can judge best whether the method makes sense in your environment?
When you know the reason for resistance, you can decide how to introduce the method or also can decide not to try it. There is nothing worse than trying to introduce a new method against the will of the stakeholders and to fail. It is better to propose a method and then to wait whether the seed will grow. It is possible that after some months, in a meeting, the team reanimates the idea and now likes it, after they have got used to it and thought about it.
At least, this is how I convince people. I never expect them to change their mind just because I give them arguments. And I dislike rhethorical tricks because intelligent people after some days realize that they have been tricked. Usually, I also give people time.
This is probably one major problem in change projects: They do not have time. They must force change upon their victims à la "Who is not for us, is against us". However, most people are just undecided or slow. Who of us likes it when someone comes along, points to an awkward self-organisation and tells you that you MUST change. For pure stubborness, the spontaneous reaction is "No!". One is currently struggling elsewhere, solving other problems. It is not so nice to be told that there are even more problems which need attention and action. One can solve only one problem after the other. Additionally to problem-solving, we are still busy doing the daily work.
AndreaHerrmann - 22. Jul, 13:49
