We are not stupid. Nor scared. We are just tired.

How's your 2021 going so far?

For me, it's an intense calendar-is-double-booked kind of start of the year, filled with speaking, facilitating, and consulting.

But wherever I turn lately, wherever I speak on reinvention, or work with a company on their turn-around, I get the same question...

"How do we deal | combat | prevent | address | handle resistance to change?"

I got it two times today - once while teaching an introduction to reinvention and then again looking at advanced reinvention projects with the current and future Certified Reinvention Practitioners.

There is no one answer to this question - there are many custom-made answers for many different reasons why people resist change.

So, the first thing to do is to assess why people resist change in the first place - in your company or at your client organization.

Not long ago, we ran a short poll asking people what is the number 1 reason people resist change in their companies.

We gave 5 options:

1. The risk of change is seen as greater than the risk of standing still

2. People feel overloaded and overwhelmed

3. People fear they lack the competence to change - or to survive in new reality after the change is completed

4. People have no role models for the new activity/reality/way of doing things

5. People have a healthy skepticism and want to be sure new ideas are reasonable and have been well-thought through

Each one of these (and other) reasons require a different solution.

Can you guess what was voted as #1? Tiredness.

People are overloaded, overwhelmed, and are suffering from serious bouts of change fatigue.

COVID-19 only made matters worse. 

Heck, if I am honest, I too resist change most of the time not because I don't see the need - but because I simply have no energy for yet another push.

So, the solution for this type of resistance is not in preparing better analysis, better presentations, or better communications.

The only way to deal with this specific issue is to bring the energy level up - for yourself and others.

SO, to help you with the energy challenge, I have a few resources.

First, watch our crowd-favorite video on 3 pragmatic ways to bring the energy up in yourself, your team, or for your clients:

Second, experiment with some science-backed energy boosters for yourself, your team, or your clients.

BOOSTER #1: Laugh a little. Scientist found that after watching a comedy clip, employees were 10% more productive than their counterparts.

BOOSTER #2: As a company and as an individual, learn to say no. Great thinkers keep remind us that strategy is not so much about what we say "yes" to, but what we say "no" to. So, honor your "no." Celebrate every time you use it. Go through a calendar and remove some things. Map out all the energy-sucking tasks with your team, and trim the list. 

BOOSTER #3: Do a quick energy audit - this article offers one (look for a box titled "Are You Headed for an Energy Crisis?"). Once you complete the audit, choose one area to improve to up your score. 

Third, adjust your thinking.

Reinvention requires energy. More than financial or any other resources, it requires consistency and grit. In the world where ideas are a commodity and funding can be solved by crowd-funding and many other options, energy is the new currency.

So, it's time to treat this resource the way we treat any other - by investing in it.

Watch the video, try some energy boosters, and then (if that re-charges your batteries!) share you favorite energy management advice inside our private Facebook group.

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Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva helps companies such as Coca-Cola, Kohler, and IBM turn change and disruption into an opportunity.

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