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When someone pushes back against change, it is easy to label them as resistant. They are negative. They don't like change. They are stuck in their ways. They need to get on board.
But what if they're telling you something you actually need to know?
In manufacturing, the people who question a new system or process often have years of experience of how the business really works. Dismissing their concerns as resistance can mean ignoring valuable information about the very transformation you're trying to deliver.
As Angela Fumpson puts it:
“Resistance is our golden nugget of information.”
Instead of asking “How do we overcome this resistance?”, perhaps the better question is:
“What's behind it?”
Resistance rarely comes from nowhere
Someone who is reluctant to embrace a new system may have experienced a previous implementation that went badly.
They may be worried about what the change means for their job.
They may know about a customer exception, machine limitation or workaround that isn't documented anywhere.
Or they may simply know that what looks straightforward on a process map isn't quite how things work on the factory floor.
That's why resistance shouldn't automatically be treated as a problem to eliminate.
Treat it as information to investigate.
Be curious. Ask questions. Find out what's really going on.
The documented process isn't always the real process
This is particularly important in manufacturing because businesses can contain huge amounts of what Angela calls tribal knowledge.
There is the official process.
And then there is what actually happens.
So before changing a process, walk it.
Talk to the people involved from initial customer enquiry through production and delivery to getting paid.
Where is information duplicated?
Where are people relying on spreadsheets?
Where do mistakes happen?
Where does work slow down?
What knowledge exists only in someone's head?
Understanding how the business really operates gives you a much stronger starting point for changing it.
Change can turn an expert into a beginner overnight
There is another reason people may resist change that is easy to underestimate.
Imagine you have spent 20 years becoming exceptionally good at your job.
You know the machines. You understand the process. People come to you when something goes wrong.
Then the business introduces a new system and suddenly you're being asked to work differently.
Questions that might never be said out loud start appearing:
Can I do this?
Am I going to make mistakes?
Is my experience still valued?
Could this eventually replace me?
What looks like stubbornness from the outside may actually be uncertainty.
Angela describes an experienced machinist who had a reputation for refusing to train colleagues. Rather than simply forcing him to become a trainer, she approached the problem differently.
He had been recording machine settings on a tablet. Another employee was asked to follow those instructions while the machinist guided them and checked whether they worked.
In practice, he was training somebody but without being pushed into a role that made him uncomfortable.
The point wasn't to trick him.
It was to understand what was preventing him from engaging and create a safer route through the change.
Consultation isn't the same as involvement
Manufacturers often know they need to involve employees in transformation.
But there is an important difference between asking people what they think and giving them a genuine opportunity to influence what happens.
Ask the people doing the work:
What frustrates you?
What information is difficult to get?
Where are you duplicating work?
Where do mistakes occur?
What would make your job easier?
And one particularly useful question:
What shouldn't we lose when we change this?
Then close the loop.
If someone's input changes the design, tell them.
If it doesn't, explain why.
That's the difference between consultation that feels like a box-ticking exercise and involvement that gives people genuine influence.
Remember: “What's in it for me?”
Senior leaders and employees can be looking at exactly the same transformation from completely different perspectives.
The board may be thinking about return on investment.
An Operations Director may be thinking about capacity.
A Production Manager may be thinking about scheduling.
Quality may want better traceability.
Someone operating a machine may have a much more immediate question:
“Is this going to make my day easier or harder?”
All of those perspectives are legitimate.
The mistake is assuming that the strategic argument for transformation will automatically mean something to everybody affected by it.
It needs to be translated.
What will actually change for this person?
Why does it matter?
How will it help them?
And what support will they need to get there?
Don't try to eliminate resistance
None of this means every objection should derail a project.
Sometimes difficult decisions still have to be made. Not everyone will agree with them.
But there is a big difference between acknowledging resistance and simply dismissing it.
The person saying “that won't work” might know something you don't.
The employee clinging to a spreadsheet might be compensating for a genuine weakness in the new system.
The experienced operator who seems reluctant to engage might be worried that years of hard-earned expertise are suddenly being devalued.
So, the next time somebody resists a change, resist the temptation to immediately persuade them that they're wrong.
Ask:
“Tell me what's behind that.”
Then listen to the answer.
Because resistance isn't always an obstacle to successful transformation.
Sometimes it's one of the best sources of information you have.
