Why Your Team Isn’t Afraid of Change (They’re Just Terrified of Losing Their Pot Plant)

We’ve all heard the old chestnut: “People don’t like change.”

It’s the go-to excuse whenever a new system rollout goes belly-up or the team looks at you with sheer horror when you suggest throwing out the half-dead office pot plant.

But I don’t buy it. If we truly hated change, we wouldn’t take holidays, we’d never wear new shoes, and we’d certainly not allow a bearded man with a giant sack to break into our homes via the chimney every December.

So, what is the truth? Most people aren’t afraid of change at all; in fact, most quite like it. But what they are afraid of is loss.

They’re afraid of losing their mastery over a task, their status as the ‘go-to’ expert, or yes, even their favourite desk by the window (you know, the once with all the pot plants).

The fear comes from the gnawing fear that whatever a change may usher in might actually turn out to be worse than the slightly tired, but comfortable, present we’re living in right now…

The Dead Pathway to Obsolescence

I’ve been thinking a lot about workplace obsolescence recently—that stultifying moment when the boss has to have a frank conversation with a once-valued employee about how their dated skills are about as helpful in the workplace as a waterproof tea bag.

It’s grim, but it’s the truth. Staying exactly where you are is now a dead pathway. The greatest danger doesn’t lie in the struggle to learn new skills, but in the stubborn refusal to move as the tsunami of obsolescence rolls in.

Leading with the Lure of the Future

So, for all you leaders out there scratching your heads, here’s one of the ingredients of my secret sauce: Expecting or demanding that people “embrace change” no longer works. It’s just too damn scary for many.

Instead, you need to lead differently. Your job is to make the lure of the future far more enticing than the fear of what your team might have to leave behind.

You have to create a supportive environment where the future looks like a playground, not a battlefield. When your team sees that the new world offers more—more excitement, more growth, more chances to be brilliant—they won’t just accept the change; they’ll chase it.

Watch the Video

I recorded my thoughts in a video recently. It’s all about how we can stop worrying about being left behind and start building a Future-Ready Mindset to stay valuable, relevant, and useful for as long as we like.