How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 199

* Altered reward systems
* Fear of technology
* Fear of having to relearn
On campus, times of change are usually seen as times of angst
(True to that tendency, Lily Tomlin once quipped, "Why walk
boldly when I can be driven by leaf?") Now that we have a basic
understanding of the reasons behind change resistance, let's look
at a handful of strategies for overcoming internal resistance to
change to do that, we need to first understand the physics of
change.
THE PHYSICS OF CHANGE
There is a saying among Newtonians that a body at rest will
remain at rest unless acted upon by a (greater) outside force. In
other words, if the pressure to change is not greater than the
resistance to change, little will happen. Stasis has been achieved.
Understanding and sometimes applying these outside forces is
critical to understanding and bringing about change, especially
transformational change. For colleges and universities, these
outside forces typically involve:
A major threat or pressure from the external environment.
In the mid '90s, following a series of lawsuits and mounting
public pressure, The Citadel (SC) was forced to become
coeducational. This was a major pressure from the external
environment.
An unanticipated opportunity.
In 1981, Macalester College (MN) received a significant gift of
stock from DeWitt and Lila Wallace. The gift, coupled with other
gifts, keen leadership, and careful management, not only allowed
the school to control its own destiny, but challenged the college
to think about the larger responsibility it had to serve society.
An internal crisis or setback.
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