Forging change is hard, just like the name, you’re taking something metal and banging on it until it’s something different, which is hard to do. Here are some major obstacles to forging change:

• Lack of management visibility and support
• Inadequate skills of management
• Employee resistance
• Lack of organizational capacity for change
• Changes can easily be zero-sum, benefitting some while harming others

Attempting and failing change can poison the current culture worse than it is, due to the perceived conflict-centered relationship and a perceived loss of control

Different kinds of organizational change:

• Developmental change (natural growth, creating new things where there was nothing before)
• Transitional change (going from one situation to another)
• Transformational change (radical and sweeping changes)
• To avoid a crisis, it is proactive change
• To respond to an existing situation, it is reactive change

Three typical responses to change:

• Resistance
• Ambivalence
• Acceptance

At an individual level, resistance is often framed merely as survival, without interest in how it affects others or the bigger picture. Disposition and neuroticism also have a big effect on receptivity to change

Transformational leadership has an edge over transactional leadership in coping with change, especially as tapping into the big picture and the long game are trademarks of transformational leadership

Interesting tidbit: resistance is actually a beneficial resource during change, by creating a two-way conversation that helps refine and resolve the change. This only works if everyone has good faith and shared goals

Implementation steps: bleh. I’ll do this later