The reasons behind the huge failure rate are discussed by Maurer next. Application of knowledge

Organisations are generally very careful when appointing leaders responsible for managing the change process or change agents. The reason for this is that there is a huge gap between what people know and what people do. All the knowledge that they have is not necessarily applied; all their talents identified are not always used. This could be a huge expense for organisations (Maurer, 2010). Therefore, the issue lies not in lack of knowledge but in applying existing knowledge effectively. Lack of skill and practice

Many organisations confuse knowledge with skills. They teach staff change management concepts but don't give them an opportunity to practise what they have learned. The old saying "practice makes perfect" applies in this category. In order to fully master knowledge it needs to be practically applied in order to perfect. " Malcolm Gladwell's fine book Outliers discusses the work of Anders Ericsson, who found that most people who gain mastery in any field have practised it for at least 10 000 hours. For example, the Beatles played 1 200 live shows in Hamburg before breaking in on the hit parade. The best pro hockey players started skating when they were really young. Bill Gates was already writing software when he was 13. Many managers confuse knowledge with skill. They teach people change management concepts, but don't give them time to practise their skills. (Maurer, 2010)

Hidden conflicts working against change

Most leaders or change agents would say that their number one goal is to help their organisation survive and flourish. However, some leaders avoid sharing information for fear that employees "can't handle the truth"; they feel it takes too long to involve others; and they believe that delegating is a sign of weakness. Limitations like these create conflicts between what a leader or change agent knows and what they do. Without realising it, they undermine their own plans and goals. This results in change management strategies that look good on paper, but unwittingly set up barriers that limit these organisations from reaching their objective (Maurer, 2010).

Culture working against change

Leaders and change agents need to analyse their organisation's rules and regulations (written and unwritten) in order to identify whether they limit or support change. For example, your organisation may claim to respect individuals, teamwork, diversity, innovative thinking, and so on in their policies (written), but your manager or CEO may not be open to criticism - and voicing an opinion which conflicts with your CEO or manager's views may lead to victimisation (Maurer, 2010).

Read about building an organisational change management competency: ? Nelson, K. and Aaron, S. 2011-2012, 'Building an Organizational Change Management', Change guides, https://www.changeguidesllc.com/site/whitepages/Building-White- Pager.pdf (accessed 26 August 2021).

Resistance Questions . Identify reasons for resistance to your change initiative, and evaluate the impact this resistance will have on your organisation. . Identify an organisational resistance to change and analyse it with regard to its impact on the organisation. . List ways in which a change agent can help to overcome resistance to change and analyse the impact these steps will have on your change initiative