13 Jun When Change Isn’t a Choice, But Participation Is

Rosabeth Moss Kanter once said, “Change is a threat when done to me, but an opportunity when done with me.” This insight captures the emotional core of organisational change. It names the quiet frustration that bubbles up when employees feel change is being imposed without consideration. How do we lead change with people when the “what and when” are already decided?

As OD consultants, we see this dilemma often. Every organisation has a group of people responsible for setting strategy. Their role is, among others, to take responsibility for the ongoing effectiveness of the organisation in a volatile world. They make strategic decisions, and those decisions involve change. In many cases, other people feel excluded or overwhelmed by cascades of change – and the challenge is meaningful participation in how change is experienced and implemented.

When change is driven by factors that leave little room for choice (like regulatory shifts, market disruptions or leadership transitions/instability), the mistake organisations make is assuming that because participation in the decision wasn’t possible, participation in the process isn’t either. This results in top-down rollouts that breed resistance and apathy.

In contrast, research shows that when people feel involved, adoption improves. McKinsey reports that 70% of change initiatives fail, not due to poor strategy, but because of weak engagement. Even if employees can’t shape what is changing, they can still influence how it’s done or rolled out, how they’re supported, and how success is defined in their context.

This starts with transparency because people can get on board with difficult change when they understand the rationale. But information alone isn’t enough, they also need agency. Creating space for teams to make meaning of the change and shape their own approach fosters a sense of control. Through the lens of Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, autonomy and competence, the core principles of their Self-Determination Theory, can make change feel like growth rather than a threat.

Resistance, too, can be reframed. Instead of seeing it as something to overcome, we can treat it as useful data. Ample research, including Harvard research shows that organisations that take resistance seriously improve their chances of implementation success. In our line of work, we’ve seen resisters become enablers once they felt heard and involved.

Bass And Avolio captured how this might be achieved in their summary of transformational leadership. Through the four pillars of idealised influence (being respectable), individual consideration (treating people as individuals rather than a machine), inspirational motivation (speaking to their hearts), and intellectual stimulation (engaging transparently and honestly), it is possible for change to be a celebration of the evolutionary potential of organisational life.

At WorldsView Academy, we have been having many conversations about supporting middle managers (Join our next OD Café) and they are key to this process as they are often stuck between implementing change and supporting overwhelmed teams. Equipped with the right tools to be translators and community builders, not just enforcers, they can build trust and collective agency. Yes, many decisions are made at the top, but participation in change isn’t about being in the boardroom, it’s about being invited to share in the experience. When people are trusted to influence what they can, they become more than just recipients of change but the agents of it.

So the next time your organisation is rolling out a change, ask  “Where can we involve people meaningfully”? That single shift in posture can turn resistance into collaboration and threat into opportunity.

Get in touch with us for support in organisational strategy and developing leadership and teams.