Change Resistance and the 5 Hindrances

Introduction

I am both a coach, organizational change management consultant, active meditator, mindfulness teacher, and practicing Buddhist. In the Buddhist tradition, there are five hindrances described as mental states that hinder progress in meditation. In my years of consulting, I’ve observed that these hindrances are also present when organizations undergo change and they really show up when there is resistance to the change. It’s my view that all resistance is rooted in one or more of the five hindrances. They are natural reactions everybody has or has had, to a world that is always in the midst of constant change.

As change practitioners we often find ourselves in the role of coach, therapist, counselor, punching bag or shoulder to cry on. Understanding these hindrances shifts your role to one of compassion for those affected by change and working with the common human responses to change rather than “managing” them.

By understanding what may be at the root of resistance, the hindrances, you’ll be in a much better position to work with them in ways that are, understanding, kind and respectful.

So, what are the 5 hindrances behind resistance?

Aversion or hate
Desire or want
Stupor or lack of energy
Restlessness or worry
Doubt

Let’s talk about these are specifically.

1. Aversion

Aversion or hate is wanting things to not be the way they are, maintaining the status quo and trying to push any change away. Aversion is what most of my clients think of as “resistance” and it can range from a very subtle pushing of the “something” away to intense hatred or anger. Aversive resistance can also show up as fear. Fear means having aversion to something that hasn’t yet happened. (Something imagined, even if it will never happen as imagined). Aversion can at times escalate into wishing harm or ill-will onto someone or something that is in the way of keeping things “as they are”.

Some thoughts on dealing with aversion:

Focus on what people need to know instead of your desire for the change to be successful. Try narrowing the focus on the specific issue(s) at hand this can increase understanding and help people to concentrate on what is needed right now, increase concentration and open the possibility for additional insight or alternative solutions.
Broadening the focus to the larger strategic need and the risks of not changing can do the same as narrowing the focus.
Aversion is often due to “one-sided attention,” when the irritation or unpleasantness of the change receives all the attention. If the change seems very annoying and people dislike it, change the focus its positive qualities
Facilitate a reflective conversation on things which have been done so far that has helped them, their team or the organization as a whole move forward.
With the less intense forms of aversive resistance, just requesting people notice them is often enough to dispel them. Treat aversion as a learning opportunity, perhaps by asking; “What might we learn from this situation?”

2. Desire

It may seem odd to have this hindrance as a driver of resistance. After all, isn’t that what the “D” in ADKAR stands for? Desire or want is a very slippery hindrance, mainly because it is an energy rather than a thing in itself. Desires or sensory wants (sight, sound, smell, taste, physical sensations and our thoughts) seeking the pleasant and known things of the world, or for the removal of their opposites, like discomfort, uncertainty or unfamiliarity. At work, most often desire is related to our thoughts about the future state, memories of a past that was known, familiar and comfortable…wanting things to remain unchanged.

Some thoughts on working with desire:

Desire can be a distraction to the immediate tasks at hand so narrow the focus to what needs to get done in the short term.
Have an open conversation about the past, how things have been done before the planned change, what worked well and importantly not so well. Remind people how this change will improve upon what’s been done previously.
Desire in and of itself is not bad (none of these hindrances are bad per se, they are all just part of the human condition) . Can you harvest people’s ideas about what is good about the change (nothing is ever all bad or all good)? How might you use those stores to craft compelling messages for the rest of the organization?
Talk about the “big idea”, the larger strategic vision and the risks of not changing.
Change is all around us, we cannot escape it in our daily lives, at work or in the world. Life is all about impermanence…everything we encounter is in constant flux; our bodies, our children, the weather, our weight, our age and our work. Use examples from your own life to illustrate the nature of impermanence and tie it back to people’s natural desire to remain in the known and familiar, then reinforce the “why” of the change.
Sometimes desire shows up as impatience with the rate of change. People expressing frustration that things are not moving quickly enough. This is a great opportunity to coach these types on the realities of organizational change, that it doesn’t happen overnight and takes time. You may also find them ready and eager change agents.

3. Stupor or lack of energy

Stupor or lack of energy refers to reactions to change rooted in dullness of the mind. With stupor this can manifest mentally in, foot-dragging, sluggishness, low energy, avoiding meetings or lethargy. You may hear that nothing is clear, answered questions are repeated or there is a general lack of motivation to move forward. Because stupor is more mental it can also look like difficulty paying attention, lack of focus or being constantly distracted in meetings. Lack of energy refers to physical aspects such as slouching, physical slowness, sunken chest, arms folded, etc.

Some thoughts on working with stupor:

Lack of direction causes a lack of energy: energy has to be directed if it is to be applied. Setting reasonable goals helps energy arise by providing clear-cut direction.
When something is new it can be exciting. We often get a lot of energy when we meet someone new or go somewhere we haven’t been to before – novelty energizes us. To arouse energy when it is lacking, do more.
Remind people of the “urgency of change.” Change can only happen “Now”, right at this moment, one step at a time. It doesn’t happen in the past and doesn’t happen in the future. Encourage people to pay attention to details that are relevant now.
The mind likes to have something to do, when it doesn’t it’s in the habit of getting drowsy. Look for stimulating activities for your team to do.
Effort often begets effort. When we apply ourselves there might be resistance initially, but after a while making the effort and doing it, something happens and it begins to feel effortless. What efforts can you ask of people?
Stupor can be a reaction to the constant chronic habit of tension and anxiety, or being chronically excited. Look for opportunity to step away from the details and broaden the focus.

4. Restlessness

Restlessnessand worry activate the mind, so we don’t have the time to see fully. Because it is unpleasant, there is a tendency for our minds to obsess on a restless mental state and want to push it away. Because the mind is already restless that restlessness is enhanced by struggling against it. Restlessness can take different forms, over planning, jittery-ness, self-judgment, regrets of the past, nervousness, remorse, anxiety. Worry is fear of what may happen in the future and anxiety is a non-specific fear of what will happen in the future. What these different forms have in common is that we are either regretting or judging the past or worrying about the future.

Some thoughts on working with restlessness:

Planning is useful at the right time, but it can easily become worry, when we become concerned if the plan will materialize. Some people find themselves planning and re-planning initiatives, an upcoming event or a meeting…often in the same incessant loop. Over-planning can also be the manifestation of insecurity which leads to anxiety. Encourage people to take a break from the planning for a bit and focus on a more strategic topic or preparing a deliverable instead.
Cultivate safe opportunities for people to share their worries with you or a group. Suppressed emotions can be a source of restlessness. If we don’t pay attention to our emotions when they arise, we tend to either act on them or suppress them. They can often simmer underneath unnoticed or consist of a “story” people are telling themselves.
Happy minds are not restless, people who are productive, positive, hopeful or motivated are operating from a state of calmness, tranquility and focus. They will report levels of high levels of concentration and engagement or that they are “in the zone” where the sense of time and space can become irrelevant.
The mind likes stimulation, when stimulation is low, it can be experienced as “boredom”. When we notice that p[people are bored, it’s because there is a state of low stimulation and people want it to go away, so their minds becomes restless which helps to increase stimulation. Be alert to signs of boredom, all change work has its low energy elements so seek opportunities for productive mental stimulation.
A practice sometimes used for the cultivation of happiness is smiling, it has a direct effect on calming the mind, restlessness and worry.
Just by sitting still and not moving, the mind itself begins to quiet. It’s like taking a glass of dirty water and shaking it. At first the water is murky, but after a while, the particles settle at the bottom. Give your group (and yourself) time to just be still…if only for a minute. For example, you could start your meetings with a 1-minute silent, meditative arrival period allowing people to settle themselves and prepare for the discussion.

5. Doubt

Doubt is not productive or useful, it drains us, disconnects us, keeping us unwilling to apply ourselves and can be the one hinderance that can cause a person to give up. We can have doubt in our ability to be successful or doubt in the solution or approach. It’s a state of indecision, of vacillation, that doesn’t allow us to fully apply ourselves, causes us to hold back, to get lost in discursive thinking.
Doubt interrupts the gathering of data with premature questions; it interferes with the process of seeing. Doubt can question one’s own ability “Can I do this?”, or question the approach “Is this the right way?” Even, “Is this the right solution?” Usually, these questions are asked at the wrong time and therefore become an obstacle, obscuring a clear vision of the future state.
Some thoughts on working with doubt:
• No matter how weak or strong doubt is, awareness of its presence is always appropriate.
• The most important thing about working with doubt is to learn to recognize it when it arises, understand that it is a state of mind we all have experienced and encourage people to set it aside for now. (They can always come back to doubt later)
• If we can learn more, understand what we’re doing and why, maybe there’s a good reason why we have doubt, maybe we haven’t really understood the basic premise, the ideas, the change well enough to really want to commit.
• If it persists, people can work with this hindrance by sharing clear instructions, talking with those they respect about the change and being willing to suspend doubt until we have moved further along and seen for ourselves.
• Sometimes doubt is resolved by reflecting on what questions we have, and learning more or talking to others and exploring it with them.

Conclusion

You have probably begun to see a pattern emerge around how to work with these hindrances that lead to change resistance. Awareness of the hindrance is one key to working with any of them. If we are not aware, we can easily get lost in “the story” behind it and find ourselves stuck. Broadening or narrowing the focus is also a common theme in working with these.

It is not uncommon for two or more of these hindrances to be operating at the same time. That’s OK and normal. As a change manager, your emotional intelligence, situational awareness and approaches I’ve shared can help you to manage resistance at a more human and connected level than perhaps you have in the past.

Change Resistance and the 5 Hindrances

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