Resistance to change isn’t incompetence, it’s mismanaged development.

Change can feel hard and scary if it's forced on us. People resist it, not because they’re lazy or incapable, but because they feel unsafe and unprepared. Resistance is fear in disguise. Fear of the unknown. Fear of failure. Fear of losing control. Fear of being unable to cope.

The problem isn’t the resistance itself, it’s how we manage people to accept it as normal.

When we label resistance as incompetence, we miss the point. Change isn’t a skill problem, it’s an experience problem. People need practice feeling in control of change to reduce the fears they have of being part of it. 

Research shows if we spend more than two years in a job doing the same thing with little or no meaningful development, our brains shut off and our skills of adapting and managing change atrophy. 

Just like if you stop going to the gym for two years then go back, your first few workouts will come with lots of pain and suffering as your body adjusts to growing again. 

Efficiency and productivity in a workplace if taken to the extreme, comes at the cost of adaptability and flexibility. 

In any job remember The 15% Rule. To maintain healthy mental fitness to change, we need a regular diet and exercise regime of spending 15% of our time doing hard things that challenge us. Where we have to struggle to adapt and grow. This small investment keeps a team mentally strong and agile. 

Preparing for change as a one-off event will cause lots of pain. But if teams develop a culture of finding and solving challenging problems, they become change fit. And that makes a business more competitive. 

Resistance to change isn’t a sign of incompetence in people. It’s a call for better leadership.