Change Is Difficult, Not Changing Is Fatal

 Working in organizations means dealing with different personalities from different cultures. It might be difficult to deal with some people in the workplace because we as humans are inherently and genetically different in our perceptions, beliefs and attitude. Accordingly, not all people in organizations accept changes. Some workers are very defensive and resist engaging in new routines. They just prefer staying in the same stage without changing their stands. As a result, slow productivity and missed deadlines might occur in the workplace due to the difficulty of dealing with those people (Today Magazine, 2014). To overcome this problem, an effective way of dealing with those people must be implemented to convince them to change their behaviors.

Overbeck (2015) explained in her article the power of adopting baby steps moves – doing things one step at a time to achieve desired goals- to changes people attitudes. This cautious approach helps people to change their behaviors and move from rejection to openness (Overbeck, 2015). In fact, baby steps approach can be implemented in several ways. For instance, Sherif and Hovland (1961) in their book identified an effective way to alter people attitudes which is "latitude of acceptance" or the "Ok zone". This method emphasizes the effectiveness of observing what is acceptable for a person to develop the right way of altering his behavior effectively (Sherif & Hovland, 1961). Although Sherif and Hovland method might help driving the change desired, it suffers from several limitations.

Sherif and Hovland method failed to take into account cultural differences.  In practice, it is sometimes difficult to identify other cultures ok zone and predict their behavior. Consequantly, confusion, misunderstanding and conflict among workers might occur due to culture differences (Community door, 2013). Therefore, it is important to study other people cultures before trying to alter their behaviors to make sure that conflict will never arise and add fuel to the fire.   

References

Community Door. Cultural misunderstandings. (2013) Retrieved from http://etraining.communitydoor.org.au/mod/page/view.php?id=318

Overbeck, J. (2015). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/02/you-dont-have-to-be-the-boss-to-change-how-your-company-works

Today Magazine. (2014). Dealing with different personality types in the workplace. Retrieved from http://www.today-magazine.com/lifestyles/dealing-different-personality-types-workplace/