You may have heard the statement, "The only thing constant is change." Change is certainly all around us$.$ Companies are buying one another, merging, and going out of business only to be replaced by new players with new ways of competing and doing business.

In my career, the ability to accept and support organizational change has emerged as a key factor that leads to either career success or career disaster. I have seen the unfortunate termination of those who could not "get on board" with a change. Conversely, I have watched those who found the keys to being successful change agents earn promotions and prosper in what, for others, was a frightening and unsure environment.

If you only take away one thing from this module on organizational change, I suggest that it be an understanding of change resistance. If you are able to add to that an ability to recognize and control change resistance in yourself, you will be set up for success in an area that is exceedingly difficult for many of your colleagues. This one skill could be the competitive advantage of your own personal brand.

Major learning points for this section are:

$-$ What are the reasons for change at work?

$-$ What do the scholars say about change?

$-$ How can I minimize change resistance in myself and others?

$1.$ The types of change, adaptive, innovative and radically innovative, give us significant insight into the reasons for change in organizations. What factors of the environment that you work in$,$ or have worked in$,$ could necessitate a change that would fall into each of the $3$ types above. For example, when Apple invented the IPhone, they changed the market for what people expected in a cell phone. Other manufacturers then had to make smart phones as an adaptive change because consumer desires had changed.

$2.$Explain Lewin's Model of Change from page $647$

$3.$ Review the causes of resistance to change on page $656.$ How will you overcome each of these in order to succeed in your career?