Chapter 8: The Hardest Thing: Bringing Change to Work

A Good Idea and a Cold Reception

Ikenna is thirty-eight and teaches at a primary school. For several years, he has been reading about ways of teaching children to read that involve more time spent with real books chosen by the children themselves, alongside the usual lessons. He tried a small version in his own class and saw his pupils' enthusiasm for reading grow noticeably. He became convinced that the whole school could benefit. At a staff meeting, he presented his idea with great energy, showing examples of his pupils' work and describing what he had seen.

The reception was cold. Several older teachers said that the current methods had worked for years and that there was no reason to change. One said, a little sharply, that she did not need a younger colleague to tell her how to teach reading. Others raised practical objections: there were not enough books, there was not enough time and the school inspectors expected certain methods. A few teachers seemed interested, but they said nothing in the meeting. The head teacher thanked Ikenna and said they would "think about it". Nothing happened.

Ikenna was hurt and confused. He had evidence. He had seen the results. He had presented the idea clearly. Why had his colleagues reacted so negatively to something that would help children? He began to feel that the school did not value new ideas, and he wondered whether he should stop trying.

A few weeks later, one of the teachers who had been silent in the meeting stopped him in the corridor. She said she was interested in his idea but had not wanted to say so in front of the others. "Some of them have been teaching the same way for twenty years," she said. "Your idea made them feel that you were saying they had been doing it wrong. And the rest of us did not know whether it would really work. We were waiting to see."

Ikenna had run into what Machiavelli called the most difficult thing of all: introducing new ways of doing things. Machiavelli's explanation of why this is so difficult is one of the clearest ever written. And though he was writing about rulers founding new states, his insight applies with remarkable precision to anyone who has ever tried to change something at work.

Enemies and Lukewarm Friends

In chapter 6 of The Prince, Machiavelli writes that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, more doubtful of success or more dangerous to manage than to introduce new orders, by which he means new ways of organizing things. The person who introduces them, he explains, has as enemies all those who did well under the old ways, and has only lukewarm defenders in all those who might do well under the new (The Prince, chapter 6).

Why are the defenders lukewarm? Machiavelli gives two reasons. The first is fear of the opponents, who have the old rules and habits on their side. The second is the natural disbelief of people, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have seen solid experience of it. As a result, he says, whenever the enemies of the new have a chance to attack, they do so with passion, while the supporters defend it only half-heartedly, so that the innovator and his supporters are in danger together (The Prince, chapter 6).

This description fits Ikenna's staff meeting almost exactly. The teachers who opposed the idea were those who had done well under the old methods. They had built their skills, their confidence and their reputations on those methods, and a new approach seemed to threaten all of this. The teachers who might benefit from the new approach were silent, partly because they did not want to stand against the opponents, and partly because they had not yet seen enough evidence to be sure.

In the Discourses, Machiavelli adds a related observation. Finding new ways and new orders, he writes, has always been as dangerous as searching for unknown waters and lands, because people are more ready to blame the actions of others than to praise them (Discourses, Book 1, preface). Anyone who proposes something new exposes themselves to criticism. If it fails, they will be blamed. Even if it succeeds, some will find fault with it.

Understanding this is the first step toward introducing change more wisely. Resistance to change is not a sign that people are foolish or bad. It is a natural result of how change affects people. Those who have invested in the old way feel threatened. Those who might benefit are unsure. A person who understands this can work with these feelings, rather than being surprised and hurt by them.

Changing Wisely, Not Forcefully

Machiavelli's own solution to the difficulty of change was force. In the same chapter, he argues that innovators who can rely on their own strength succeed, while those who must rely on persuasion alone often fail. This advice reflects the violent world of rulers in his time, and it has little place in an ordinary workplace, where forcing change on colleagues usually produces resentment and quiet resistance rather than lasting success.

But his analysis of the problem suggests better solutions for ordinary people. If the lukewarm supporters hold back because they do not believe in new things until they have seen solid experience of them, then the innovator's task is to create that experience: small, visible trials that show the new way working. If the opponents resist because they did well under the old way, then the innovator's task is to show respect for what was good in the old way, and to help the opponents see how they too might do well under the new.

There are several practical ways of doing this. One is to start small. Instead of proposing a change for the whole organization, try it in one place, with willing people, and let the results speak. Another is to build allies quietly before presenting an idea publicly, so that supporters are not left isolated. Another is to listen carefully to objections, because some of them will be right and will improve the idea. Another is to honour the old way, acknowledging what it achieved, so that those who built it do not feel dismissed.

Timing matters too. A change proposed at a moment of crisis, when people already feel overwhelmed, is more likely to be resisted. A change proposed at a calmer moment, or in response to a problem that everyone already recognizes, is more likely to be welcomed. And a change that is presented as the speaker's personal project tends to attract more opposition than a change that is presented as a shared response to a shared need.

Finally, patience is essential. Machiavelli was right that change is slow and difficult. People need time to adjust, to see evidence and to let go of familiar habits. An innovator who expects immediate agreement will be disappointed. An innovator who expects a long, gradual process, with setbacks along the way, will be better prepared to persist.

Ikenna Tries Again

After his conversation in the corridor, Ikenna decided to approach his idea differently. Instead of trying to change the whole school, he asked the interested teacher whether she would like to try the approach in her class too. She agreed. Two other teachers who had been quietly curious joined them. Together, the four of them tried the new reading time for one term, keeping careful records of how the children responded.

Ikenna also made a point of talking privately with the teachers who had opposed the idea. He did not try to argue with them. Instead, he asked them about their own experience of teaching reading and what they had found worked best. He listened carefully. One of the older teachers, the one who had spoken sharply in the meeting, told him about methods she had developed over many years for helping children who struggled. Ikenna realized that some of her methods could be combined with his idea, and he told her so. She was surprised and, slowly, a little less hostile.

At the end of the term, the four teachers had solid evidence. Their pupils were reading more books, and many were more enthusiastic about reading. The teachers also had practical knowledge about what worked and what did not, including solutions to the problems of time and books that had been raised in the first meeting. They had found that the local library would lend boxes of books to schools for free, and that a short daily reading time could fit within the existing timetable.

When the idea was presented again at a staff meeting, it was presented by all four teachers, with their evidence, their practical solutions and an acknowledgment of the older teacher's methods, which had been included in the approach. The head teacher agreed to let any teacher who wished try it the following year. More than half the staff chose to. The older teacher did not, but she no longer opposed it, and she offered to share her methods for struggling readers with anyone who was interested.

Ikenna says that he learned more from the failure of his first attempt than from the success of his second. "I thought a good idea would win on its own," he says. "But a good idea needs friends, evidence, patience and respect for the people it affects. I had only the idea." Machiavelli would have recognized the lesson: the innovator who stands alone is in danger, and the innovator who builds solid experience and allies has a chance.

Ximena and the Handover Checklist

Ximena is twenty-nine and works as a nurse on a busy surgical ward. She noticed that important information was sometimes lost when one shift handed over to the next. A patient's allergy might be mentioned in conversation but not written down, or a change in a patient's condition might be forgotten in the rush. She thought that a simple written checklist for each patient at handover could reduce these errors. She had seen something similar work well during her training at another hospital.

Ximena knew that her ward was a place where change was resisted. Several senior nurses had worked there for many years and were proud of their routines. She also knew that nurses were very busy, and that any new task might seem like an extra burden. So she did not propose the checklist at a staff meeting. Instead, she talked first with the ward manager, explained her concern and asked whether she could try the checklist informally with a few colleagues who were interested.

The manager agreed. Ximena and two other nurses used the checklist for a month on their own shifts. They kept a simple record of any errors or near-misses at handover, before and after. They also refined the checklist, removing items that took too long and adding ones that proved useful. By the end of the month, they had a short, practical checklist that took only a minute or two per patient.

Ximena then asked one of the most respected senior nurses, a woman named Ruta, to look at it. She deliberately asked for criticism. Ruta suggested several changes, based on her long experience, and Ximena included them all. When the checklist was finally presented to the whole ward, Ruta presented it with her. The other senior nurses, seeing that Ruta supported it and had helped shape it, were much more willing to try it.

The checklist became part of the ward's routine within a few months. Ximena says that the key was not the checklist itself, which was simple, but the way it was introduced. "If I had stood up in a meeting and said, 'We are losing information and I have a solution,' the senior nurses would have heard, 'You are doing it wrong,'" she says. "By asking Ruta to improve it, I turned her from an opponent into an owner." One more point: in health care and other areas where safety matters, there are usually official procedures for proposing changes, and it is wise to follow them.

Gustav and the Shared Machines

Gustav is sixty-one and has farmed the same land for forty years. He belongs to a small association of farmers in his area, who meet monthly to discuss common problems. For some time, Gustav has believed that the farmers could save a great deal of money by sharing expensive machinery, such as a harvester, rather than each owning their own. He has seen it done successfully elsewhere.

When Gustav first raised the idea, the other farmers were sceptical. Some had owned their own machines for decades and did not like the idea of depending on others. Some worried about who would get the machine first at harvest time, when everyone needed it at once. Some simply did not believe it would work. One said that farmers had always been independent, and that sharing would lead to arguments.

Gustav understood their concerns. He did not argue. Instead, he found one neighbour, a younger farmer who was struggling with the cost of maintaining his old harvester, and suggested that the two of them try sharing a machine for one season. They agreed on clear rules in writing: how the machine would be scheduled, who would pay for repairs and what would happen if it broke down. They kept careful records of the costs and of any problems.

At the end of the season, both farmers had saved money, and the scheduling had worked better than expected, because they had planned it carefully in advance. Gustav presented the results to the association, along with the written rules they had used. He also acknowledged the concerns that had been raised, explaining how the rules addressed each one. Two more farmers asked to join the arrangement the following year.

Gustav says that the most important thing was being patient. "Farmers do not believe in anything until they see it work," he says, smiling. "Neither do most people. So I stopped trying to convince them and started trying to show them." This is exactly what Machiavelli meant when he wrote that people do not truly believe in new things until they have seen solid experience of them. Gustav's experiment created that experience.

Bao and the Change Nobody Asked For

Bao is thirty-four and works in the office of a medium-sized company that distributes medical supplies to clinics. The company recently decided to replace its old system of paper files and spreadsheets with a new computer system that would track orders, deliveries and invoices in one place. Bao was asked to help introduce the system in his department, because he was comfortable with technology.

Bao's situation was different from Ikenna's, Ximena's and Gustav's. The change was not his idea, and the decision had already been made by senior managers. His task was to help his colleagues adapt to it. Many of them were unhappy. They had worked with the old system for years and knew exactly where everything was. The new system seemed complicated and unnecessary. Several said openly that it would never work.

Bao recognized the pattern Machiavelli described. The colleagues who had done well under the old system, who knew its every detail, felt threatened by the new one. Those who might benefit were lukewarm, because they had not yet seen it work. Bao could not change the decision. But he could change how the change was experienced.

Bao began by listening. He met with each colleague and asked what worried them most about the new system. He wrote down every concern. Some were about the system itself, and he passed these to the senior managers, some of whom made adjustments. Many concerns were about learning: people were afraid of making mistakes and looking foolish. Bao arranged short, patient training sessions for small groups, with plenty of time for questions, and he made himself available every afternoon for the first month to help anyone who was stuck. He also asked the most experienced colleague, who knew the old system best, to help check that all the old information was transferred correctly, which made her an important part of the change rather than its victim.

The first months were difficult, with many small problems. But gradually, the department adapted. People began to discover features of the new system that made their work easier. Bao says that the most important lesson was that people resist change less when they feel heard, supported and respected. "I could not stop the change," he says. "But I could make sure nobody felt left behind by it. That made all the difference."

Practical Steps: Introducing Change Wisely

The first step is to understand who will gain and who will lose. Before proposing a change, think about how it will affect different people. Who has done well under the current way? What might they feel they are losing? Who might benefit, and what might make them hesitate? This map of interests will help you anticipate resistance.

The second step is to start small and create solid experience. Rather than proposing a large change for everyone, try it in one place, with willing people, for a limited time. Keep a simple record of the results. Evidence from real experience is far more persuasive than enthusiasm.

The third step is to build allies before going public. Talk privately with people who might be interested, and invite them to take part in the trial. When the idea is presented more widely, it should be presented by several people, not by one person alone.

The fourth step is to invite your opponents to improve the idea. Like Ximena with Ruta and Ikenna with the older teacher, ask those who might resist for their criticism and their experience. Include their suggestions. People who help shape a change are much more likely to support it.

The fifth step is to honour the old way. Acknowledge what the current way has achieved and the skill of those who built it. Present the change as building on what is good, not as rejecting it. People who feel respected are more willing to change.

The sixth step is to be patient and expect setbacks. Change takes time. There will be problems, disappointments and moments when the old way seems easier. Persist steadily, solve problems as they arise and celebrate small successes along the way.

Not Every Change Is Good, and Change Can Be Hard to Receive

It is worth remembering that resistance to change is not always wrong. Some proposed changes are bad ideas. Some solve problems that do not exist. Some cause more harm than good. The people who resist change are sometimes protecting something valuable. A wise innovator listens to opposition, not only to overcome it, but to learn from it. If the objections are strong, it may be right to change the idea or to abandon it.

It is also worth remembering the other side of change: the experience of those who receive it. Many of us, at many points in our working lives, will be on the receiving end of changes we did not choose and may not want. Bao's colleagues were in this position. If you are, it is natural to feel loss, frustration or fear. It can help to ask honestly what concerns you, to raise those concerns through the proper channels and to give the new way a fair chance before judging it. Some changes that seem unwelcome at first turn out to be improvements. Others do not, and it is right to say so clearly and calmly.

Finally, if a change at work involves your rights, your pay, your contract or your safety, and you are unsure where you stand, it is wise to find out your rights from a trusted official source or to seek qualified advice, and, where they exist, to talk to the people or organizations that represent workers in your field.

A Short Exercise: A Map for a Change

This exercise helps you plan a change you would like to introduce at work. It takes about twenty minutes.

At the top of a page, write the change you would like to make, in one sentence. Then draw three columns, labelled "Who may resist", "Who may support" and "Who is unsure". Fill in the names or roles of the people who will be affected, and in each case, write a few words about why they might feel as they do. Be fair and generous in your explanations.

Under the columns, answer three questions. First: how could I create solid experience of this change, on a small scale, before asking for wider support? Write a small trial you could run. Second: who could be my first allies? Write two or three names. Third: whom could I ask for criticism, especially among those who may resist? Write one or two names.

Finally, write one sentence acknowledging what is good about the current way, and one sentence describing how your change builds on it. These sentences will be useful when you present the idea. Then decide on a first step and when you will take it.

Ikenna did this exercise before his second attempt. In the "Who may resist" column, he wrote the older teachers' names, and next to them: "They built their skills on the current methods, and those methods have helped many children." In the "Who is unsure" column, he wrote: "Interested but afraid to stand out, and want evidence." His small trial was "four classes, one term, with records". His sentence about the current way was: "The current methods teach children to decode words well." His sentence about building on it was: "Reading time helps children practise those skills with books they love."

Chapter Summary

In chapter 6 of The Prince, Machiavelli wrote that nothing is more difficult, more doubtful or more dangerous than introducing new ways of doing things, because the innovator faces enemies in all who did well under the old ways and only lukewarm support from those who might do well under the new. The supporters are lukewarm because they fear the opponents and because people do not believe in new things until they have seen solid experience of them. In the Discourses, he compared finding new ways to exploring unknown seas. His own solution relied on force, which has little place in ordinary working life.

Ikenna and his reading idea, Ximena and her handover checklist, Gustav and the shared harvester and Bao helping colleagues adapt to a change they had not chosen all found better ways: starting small, creating solid experience, building allies, inviting opponents to improve the idea, honouring the old way and being patient. Not every change is good, and receiving change can be hard; listening to resistance is part of changing wisely.

In the next chapter, we will look at another of Machiavelli's insights: that problems are easy to cure but hard to see when they are small, and easy to see but hard to cure when they have grown.