Change Doesn’t Fail Because of Resistance. It Fails When People Aren’t Heard.

Change is no longer something organisations prepare for in neat cycles.
It is constant.

Leaders today are navigating rapid technological shifts, changing community expectations, increasing diversity, regulatory complexity and ongoing financial pressure. All while maintaining service quality and care. In response, organisations adapt, redesign and restructure, often at pace.

The intent is usually sound.
The outcomes are not always.

One of the most common explanations we hear when change stalls is: “People don’t like change.”

I don’t believe that’s accurate.

I was recently reminded why through the work of Michael McQueen, a social researcher and author who explores how people respond to change, uncertainty and disruption. In one of his short talks, Michael makes a compelling observation: people are not afraid of change itself,  they are afraid of what they believe they might lose because of it.

That insight resonates deeply with my own leadership experience.

Across many organisations, significant effort is invested in designing change: new systems, structures, models and processes. Far less attention is often given to how people experience that change, particularly early enough to shape it.

When engagement does occur, it can be overly transactional. Information is shared, timelines are communicated, and leaders move quickly to implementation. Communication happens …. but listening does not.

What Michael McQueen’s work highlights, and what I have seen repeatedly in practice, is that resistance is rarely about stubbornness or negativity. More often, it reflects a perceived loss.  Loss of confidence, competence, certainty, identity, autonomy or trusted ways of working.

True engagement, particularly through a co-design lens, requires something deeper than consultation.

It requires leaders to actively listen for what people are experiencing beneath the surface. To create space for uncertainty and discomfort. To hear concerns without immediately justifying the decision or rushing to solutions.

Active listening is intentional.
It asks:

·       What feels at risk for you in this change?

·       What do you think you might lose?

·       What would help you feel supported through this transition?

When leaders listen in this way, resistance becomes information rather than an obstacle. People move from feeling done to toward feeling part of. Trust strengthens, and the quality of the change itself improves as a result.

In complex, people-centred systems, the cost of not listening is high. Change that overlooks lived experience can unintentionally erode psychological safety, morale and confidence — even when the strategic rationale is sound.

Sustainable change requires more than strong governance and clear communication.
It requires genuine engagement and a willingness to listen — early, openly and with curiosity.

Perhaps the more useful leadership question is not “How do we get people on board?”
But “How well have we listened to what this change costs people.  And what might help minimise that loss?”

 I would love to hear your thoughts below.