50 Reasons Why We Cannot Change

July 26, 2016

One of the biggest hurdles for marketers to clear is getting their organization to accept change. To be success at content marketing means that people need to think differently about their work and how they approach customers and build larger audiences.

In every case with every marketer, they always bring up the resistance that they either expect or have already run into. It’s tough, because people don’t want to change.

E.F. Borisch was a product manager for Milwaukee Gear Company. He created a list of 50 reasons people say that change can’t happen in their organization. Do any of these ring true for you?

1. We’ve never done it before.
2. Nobody else has ever done it.
3. It has never been tried before.
4. We tried it before.
5. Another company/person tried it before.
6. We’ve been doing it this way for 25 years.
7. It won’t work in a small company.
8. It won’t work in a large company.
9. It won’t work in our company.
10. Why change—it’s working OK.
11. The boss will never buy it.
12. It needs further investigation
13. Our competitors are not doing it.
14. It’s too much trouble to change.
15. Our company is different.
16. The ad department says it can’t be done.
17. Sales department says it can’t be done.
18. The service department won’t like it.
19. The janitor says it can’t be done.
20. It can’t be done.
21. We don’t have the money.
22. We don’t have the personnel.
23. We don’t have the equipment.
24. The union will scream.
25. It’s too visionary.
26. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
27. It’s too radical a change.
28. It’s beyond my responsibility.
29. It’s not my job.
30. We don’t have the time.
31. It will obsolete other procedures.
32. Customers won’t buy it.
33. It’s contrary to policy.
34. It will increase overhead.
35. The employees will never buy it.
36. It’s not our problem.
37. I don’t like it.
38. You’re right, but…
39. We’re not ready for it.
40. It needs more thought.
41. Management won’t accept it.
42. We can’t take the chance.
43. We’d lose money on it.
44. It takes too long to pay out.
45. We’re doing it all right as it is.
46. It needs committee study.
47. Competition won’t like it.
48. It needs sleeping on.
49. It won’t work in this department.
50. It’s impossible.

The interesting thing about Borisch’s list is that it was published in 1959 in an obscure journal called Produce Engineering. It was also one of the very first articles in the very first issue of Fast Company in 1993.

Interesting…

It seems that the more things change, it seems, the more the objections to change stay the same.