B2B Executive: How
to implement changes
to your company

Implementing changes with minimum resistance and maximum success

Before you suggest any changes to any of your employees — whether management or not — it is best to plan ahead.

You need to understand something about human behaviour:

Man resists change, ANY change. Change is a feared element, something that moves a person from the known to the unknown.

This fear is mainly in our subconsciousness and you would not get many people to AGREE to its existence in THEIR minds. But it's there all right and it is also the main cause of stagnation or lack of initiative.

"Better the devil you know than the one you don't" is how it is rationalised.

The fear of change and our unawareness of it is not the only thing that makes people resist change.

Human behaviour causes a lot of problems in B2B companies, and not necessarily because of any evil intent or destructive intentions.

More than anything, Man is prone to judging himself more harshly than anyone else would or could. Within him there are opposing forces that fight for dominance.

There's the innate laziness of humans. We are easily persuaded into avoiding doing something which we consider to be our responsibility. More often than not, this is done by postponing it.

We postpone things which then get buried under yet more things waiting for action.

And then there's the amazingly acute sense of responsibility within us. We feel we are responsible, we perceive that we SHOULD do more, SHOULD act faster, SHOULD achieve better results quicker...

...and we create a negative image of ourselves to ourselves because we don't DO those things at the time we think of them and at the (often extremely ambitious and borderline-unrealistic) LEVEL of perfection and expeditiousness.

We feel guilty. We feel as if we've committed the worst atrocities imaginable and begin avoiding looking at these things or talking about them.

Since most of this to-and-fro occurs subconsciously, we feel that we are falling behind, becoming less powerful and less able... and the last thing we want is yet something NEW to implement, a new set of "must-be-done-perfectly-and-immediately" rules.

Thus people resist change and resist it with vengeance. Yet this is not evident on the surface because the subconscious feeling of "being guilty" forbids most of us from OPENLY resisting the suggestions for improvement coming from the top of the organisation.

With that view, you can understand that there can be covert resistence to improvements, so much so that you may receive biassed reports about these changes and their true results.

It's not guaranteed that employees will happily embrace improvements, let alone do their best to ensure these are implemented correctly.

Yet to introduce any change to your company you need to obtain the wholehearted support of your team because they will make or break those new activities.

Any new implementation requires MORE sincere work than an old one, simply because new things still contain "bugs" and they're THEORY, the practical success of which is yet to be proven.

I'm balancing on a precarious fence here and I don't want to get involved in the eternal arguments of who's to blame for what... but I think you agree that the degree of genuine acceptance of any new idea will govern its likelihood of success of its implementation.

This is the reason why it is so difficult to introduce new things to any company.

So, how do you as the executive introduce changes and get them implemented?

Here are a few tips on how to do that.

1. Trust your own judgment and go with it

The first thing is that you keep your idea regarding an improvement to yourself in the company and work it until it is what you want it to be.

Do your own research, consult people who are OUTSIDE your company if you need a second opinion or reassurance... but don't talk about it with any of your juniors.

Don't ask for prior approval from anyone. I know it seems harsh but there it is.

For instance, if you're contemplating making a change in the presentation and sales of your main services or products, don't go ask your salesmen whether or not they would think it's a good idea.

I know this is hard to believe but they won't even LOOK at your idea from that angle. They stopped listening the moment you introduced the idea of CHANGE... and from thereon out, they only look at your idea to find problems with it.

They'll point out this or that potential problem, expound on how this or that unknown quantity could cause huge damage... and generally shred your enthusiasm into ribbons just to ensure you will GIVE UP any foolish notions of CHANGE.

What happens here is not that your salesmen are mean or ornery. They THINK they're being logical and loyal. See. Fears work from BELOW the surface of awareness, harnessing our rationality in explaining how and why something shouldn't be done.

Their logic is run by the fear of change but they're not aware of it... and would feel offended if you told them.

People cannot admit being governed by their fears. It' just too much of an insult to our status as thinking adults.

Oh, it's perfectly admittable in children, everyone understands that kids do not master their emotions and that their feelings govern their actions... but we assume that, having grown up, we also somehow gained total understanding of the human mind.

There is improvement, of course. Age brings understanding of one's own emotional reactions.

And fear of CHANGE is definitely a variable among human beings and its counter force is the desire to create improvements.

But that is tied to many things and the general level of ability and responsibility of each being... which is visible by how people "place" themselves in any organisation.

Those who have the ability to bear responsibility are on the top of the organisation. They wanted to get there and it's no coincidence they got there.

I personally believe that courage to face up to challenges governs our fate far more than ability. Ability, skill, competence... these are things which increase the more we demand of ourselves.

While everyone has the opportunity to CHANGE one's willingness to go for new things and thus change one's ability and skill, the fact remains that each of us is where he is because he did or left undone what brought him there.

And so it is with executives also.

Their willingness to create improvements is greater than their fear of change... often very much greater, which basically nullifies the fear of change.

But that's not necessarily the case with those who work for you. They're at that level also because they wanted so. I'm not talking about what we SAY but what we DO.

Thus, YOUR view of change is different from theirs. Your willingness to change is far in advance to theirs. Your power is by far greater.

So you should NEVER assume that other people see things as you do. You should not grant them equal insight as you possess in seeing WHY a change is needed and HOW it should be implemented.

Don't confuse this with the idea of equality. I'm a firm believer in equal OPPORTUNITY, ensuring that everyone has the same rights to pursue success and happiness.

The point here is what they've made of their chance.

Whatever it is will reflect what they wanted to make out of it. And that's where equal rights, responsibilities and privileges must end, since each of us has to EARN those things... and we cannot be equal in that respect.

So don't buy into the idea of "everyone being given equal rights to SHARING the RESULTS or PRIVILEGES that an individual has achieved through hard work, courage and relentless self-development."

You are the top executive because you've paid the price, done what it takes... and your decision is the best. It is the best for EVERYONE in your company, regardless of whether or not they realise it.

So don't assume everyone is equally able or willing to bear the responsibility for their actions. Don't let your charitable nature be misused by accepting any form of belittling regarding your superior ability to make right decisions.

Well, be that as it may, my advice is to reckon with the possibility that most human beings have a strong emotional fear of CHANGE.

Do not underestimate this fear regardless of how you feel about change, or else it will undermine your attempts to introduce improvements.

2. Plan the presentation of it and accentuate what remains THE SAME

Avoid stressing what changes. Present even the biggest changes as "minor tweaking" and concentrate on repeating over again those things that REMAIN THE SAME.

I really mean that you just go over and over again what remains the same. Continue until it's BORING.

It works. The more you bore them about "the same," the less they'll react to the change.

They won't catch onto what you're doing. They might remark on it being boring but since they're not really aware of the fear of change in their subconscious, they won't realise what you're doing.

If anyone does then he can actually control his fear of change, see?

Although it's just words, it is the counterweight of the fear... which is also just words, in a way.

Secondly, you need to PLAN how to introduce the changes.

Do it gradually and without revealing what's coming later. Introduce the changes step by step, little by little.

Implement improvements gradually without telling them the whole plan.

Ideally, you would introduce one small change by going through all that does NOT change... implement it and get it working well... at which point it becomes part of the "KNOWN" and EXISTING set of things (it's not a "change" any longer, see?)... at which point you would introduce the NEXT change by explaining how it's not really a change at all... and so on.

This way you can get a lot of changes accepted while maximising their cooperation in implementing each step until it is "change no more," having turned into a routine action which they NOW would fight if anyone came to suggest it should be CHANGED.

That's the plan of action for implementing changes successfully.

3. Use your authority to make the change established

Now, if the previous text didn't dissuade you from any idea of asking someone's acceptance and/or approval for using your executive powers, then this one will.

As the top executive, you HAVE authority.

Your people cannot work for you without tacitly agreeing to your authority. I don't care if you hear snide remarks about it as such criticism shows someone protesting against your authority, which indirectly just proves how MUCH authority he grants to you in his mind.

So here's the thing: To implement changes, you must USE YOUR AUTHORITY.

Think and plan, research and prepare... do whatever is needed to ensure that your change is the right thing to do, take as long as you like...

...but once it's time to implement the change, do so with total conviction and without any notion of it being optional or its adoption being subject to discussion.

Talk with them to get them to accept the change... but never allow the slightest doubt in anyone's (or your own) mind of the inevitability of it being the new thing that WILL BE DONE.

In other words, be assertive and unwavering about the new thing being what happens next.

You don't have to be rude or shout anyone down or anything like that. You act politely and listen attentively to anyone's concerns... you understand their hesitation... you're sorry that they feel that way... but you calmly state that this is what is needed for this company to be successful so it can sustain its team members.

You ARE the "god" of your company, in a manner of speaking.

You're its highest power, its most capable decision-maker, its master and commander steering the vessel, keeping it on the correct course toward the right destination, making the final decisions on all that concerns achieving that common goal for the whole crew.

As within any group, the lead of a company creates the reality of it. A change is something that apparently goes against this and it can make group members resist the new addition.

The top executive keeps putting the new thing there until it becomes reality. Your authority is the winning element.

It is what builds up certain "tolerance" in your people, a definite level of acceptance within your employees toward you, which is the marker you can call in when it's time to implement changes.

Use your authority but do it gently and with understanding... and it will allow you to push through new things in the business.

New things are always first resisted

The fact that a group of people resist something new does not mean that this new thing is wrong or dysfunctional.

It just means that it is NEW.

People resist new things.

Resistance to new things is at the very core of the fabric of human existence. We SAY differently and you would not easily have anyone ADMIT they're afraid of new things... but there it is.

All major innovations take decades to be "accepted" widely. The human experience is built around that which IS NOW THERE, protecting it and making it persist.

Subconsciously, and in this narrow application of it, we tend to act like one of those Monty Python knights guarding a bridge for millennia without ever reassessing the situation. That's what's funny about it.

Your task is not to achieve acceptance for some new change in the activity of your business but to persist putting that change there despite all efforts to the contrary, continuing until this improvement stops being "new" and becomes a part of the ROUTINE... that which people then fight for to ensure it persists.

Acceptance of something is not proof of its correctness.

Equally, disapproval or resistance of something is no evidence that it's wrong or dysfunctional.

One needs only to look at our history to find plenty of examples on how widely accepted "facts" were wrong or methods popularly embraced as beneficial were harmful in fact.

Reversely, all beneficial breakthroughs had to endure DECADES of ridicule and sneering contempt from "those in the know" before the solution was accepted widely and thus USED to solve the problem it solved from the day of its inception.

So, don't YOU accept that lack of acceptance would prove ANYTHING about the correctness and functionality of your plan for improvement.

It doesn't. It merely proves the point that human beings instinctively resist changes and new things.

It matters not WHAT these new things are. The emotional reaction PRECEDES any logical thinking, so much so that FIRST people react negatively to the IDEA of "something new" (change)... and then they merely rationalise WHY this new thing is no good.

HOW they do it is not relevant but that they DO.

They're looking solely for reasons to REJECT this new thing.

As you know, any meaningful analysis of anything requires an unbiassed examination of BOTH pros and cons of it.

And that's not the case when a group resists a change.

Part of the responsibilities AND privileges of a leader is to be hardheaded enough to push through improvements which will help the company survive / succeed better, as it will help the group members also, regardless of what they may think NOW.

Thus, if you take your cue from "whether or not this change is accepted instantly and popular" then you'll never be able to implement those changes that would help those who so resist the change.

Popularity is a two-edged sword always. While it can be great to be popular, the fact is that it creates a debilitating dependency also.

If the executive allows the (initial) popularity his decisions to affect the implementation of envisioned improvements then the raw subconscious fear of change will conquer every time.

The improvement WILL be immensely popular once it has been grooved into the fabric of the business activity so that everyone can now SEE how well it works. But before that time arrives, this change will be resisted.

So understand the reactions of your people, reassure them that this will improve things, introduce the changes GENTLY and in gradual steps if possible, go over what REMAINS THE SAME (ad nausea)... and persist with each step of the improvement, putting it there against all attempts to the contrary...

...until it becomes accepted and part of the routine of actions in your company.

Trust your conclusions and you will do fine. You ARE best equipped to decide what's best for your company.

It's as simple as that, so trust your judgment and push through with the improvements you know are needed!

If you want some help in evaluating what improvements could benefit your company most, please read the presentation of our Marketing Analysis introductory service which will give an exterior expert viewpoint on how to utilise the natural strong points of your production in marketing.

Finally, if web site presentation is on the top of your list at this moment then, please, click here to read about our Internet Marketing & Search Engine Optimization Analysis.

And keep up the good work!

Best wishes,

Harry Kafka
HDK Consultants Ltd
32 Manning Close
Richmond Square
East Grinstead RH19 2DR
West Sussex, United Kingdom
Tel. 01342-328 116
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