Resistance to change or lack of meaning?
Is it resistance to change or simply a lack of meaning? This is a question we all need to ask ourselves – both as individuals and as organizations.
Let's start with what each of us sees at the beginning of the year and at the dawn of autumn: the LinkedIn feed is filled with announcements about how the group jumps to new dunes and the gyms are full of fitness people who are starting their second - or maybe tenth - new beginning of their lives. The phenomenon described above is as certain as the cycle of nature.
But why does this happen at certain times? And what does this tell us about change?
It's not resistance, it's a lack of meaning
Many people talk about resistance to change as if it were some inevitable force of nature - but you know what? It's a bunny. People are not really opposed to change. People resist irrelevance.
If someone wants to stay in the old, regressive and stunning dungeon of their (working) life, it is not because the winds of change are blowing too hard. It's because no one has succeeded in showing them why the potential change should interest them.
Think about this again: when a person decides to start a new job or jump into the gym to find a new phase in their life, they're not doing it just for fun. In the background is the need to find meaning, the need to feel that there is a deeper point to all this.
The same applies in working life. When employees aren't excited about change, it's not because they want to cling to the old. It's because they don't see the point of change.
Change without meaning is like a gym card without use
Change in itself is neither good nor bad – it is inevitable. But the success of the change is directly related to how well its meaning has been communicated and understood.
Let's take a look at these who are going to work out in the gym. Why do those who commit to change stay the course? So I'm talking about those who don't disappear from the gym every year after the start of January or August, like ashes in the wind. Because they see that that change brings something valuable – health, energy, confidence, presence, etc.
At the deepest level, meaning can be found both within oneself and, above all, outside oneself. Philosopher Frank Martela has described meaning and the purpose of life in the following way:
"The meaning of life is to make yourself meaningful to other people."
The 25-year-old career rocket, who looks like a supermodel, squats because she wants to look her best at the wedding to be danced in Suomenlinna next summer. That is what he has been dreaming of for the first quarter of a century of his life. Meaning comes from me.
Sal's 45-year-old parent (home role) and manager (work role) who lives a busy day-to-day life may want to lose 5-10 kilos on the treadmill so that he can be better present to his family after the work day. Too many years, in fact already a decade, have passed as a living dead, in Finnish as a zombie, under the guidance of a squirrel's wheel and in the narrowness of everyday life. That's enough! Meaning comes from me and others.
The 61-year-old CEO of a listed company, who is pushing a bench press, wants to make sure that there are at least 20 years left in the game of life, that he has time to see his grandchildren grow up and, on the one hand, to change the global working life in a more sustainable direction, both humanly and financially, through the government career ahead of him. Meaning comes from other people and the world.
Change without meaning is like a gym card without use – useless. The desired change remains in the starting racks found at the end of the gym's green grass mat.
Successful change management in an organization starts with meaning
This same logic of change and meaning applies to any organizational change project. If employees don't see the change bringing anything significant to their lives, workplace, customers or the world around them, why would they invest in it?
This has already been said so many times and it is certainly worth saying at least this one more time: the management of the organization is responsible for creating and communicating the meaning of the change together with its people. If you - as CEO or change leader - are not able to communicate (listen and communicate) why change is important and how it will make everyone's life better, don't be surprised if there is resistance to change.
A good meaningful message answers the following questions:
- Why is this relevant to me?
- Why is this relevant to us (work community/close relationships/team)?
- Why is this relevant to the company?
- Why is this relevant to customers?
- Why is this relevant to society?
When meaning is found, there is no need for force or pressure. When employees see how the change benefits them, the entire organization, customers and the world, they get involved - and do it with their hearts.
So there is no need to pressure, no need to manipulate. It is enough that the meaning is clear and honest. This same phenomenon repeats itself in personal life as well. Why are some people successful in their lifestyle changes? Because they have found a deeper (life) purpose. It is not just a superficial decision, but a fundamental commitment to a better life.
This is a truth we all need to internalize: change is never just external. It is always internal. And this inner change comes from meaning, which at the highest level crystallizes in other people and the world.
Without meaning, change is just another attempt to do something different, another new start that dies in the bud. Be the one who makes the change have meaning and, with it, also have an impact.
