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Why are people so resistant to change?

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
In my unit at work we generate a lot of paperwork, more than the average patrol unit. We have to do our normal paperless reports on our laptops but, because, my unit is somewhat subcontracted by HUD, I have to make paper copies of everything we do in the housing communities (arrests, lease violations, banned people, drugs, burglaries....). So this problem led to another problem, the HUD idiots tend to lose paperwork so to combat this, we have to make 2 copies of everything, one for them and one for us to produce when they claim we didn't give it to them.
Needless to say, all of this backup paperwork makes for a lot of excess paper being used. So here I am, somewhat computer savvy (compared to my coworkers) and i find an easy way for us to export our digital reports from our police specific software into MS word documents. by doing this, i have solved the issue of confidentiality because we no longer have to pen out the SSN's and dates of birth for everyone involved before the paperwork is sent over; now we can just edit the necessary information out completely as if it were never there.
seems pretty nifty-fifty right? well, try explaining all of that to some hardheaded type-A personalities and bottom of the barrel HUD management :rolleyes: I have devised a way to eliminate the paper usage, created a near perfect tracking system via MS outlook, and sped up the entire process exponentially in regards to information dissemination. No longer do the area managers have to wait for the hard copies to be distributed from me, to the VP, to the community managers....now i email everyone at the same time thus keeping the VP's in the loop AND getting the critical info to community managers so they can take appropriate action in a timely fashion.

so finally, my Lieutenant has agreed to set up a meeting with the HUD folks and get the SOP rolling for this paperless transfer. I've had this thing ready for 6 months now and it's taken this long to do a simple changeover of our daily procedure? (a procedure that will give us more time on the streets instead of behind a desk)

I guess i'm just frustrated at the fact that some of my coworkers gawk at me for being a "treehugger" because i simply find it stupid that we have all of this technology and we're still printing stuff. I'm FAR from being a treehugger, i just think we can be a little more responsible, especially since most of my unit has young kids. Oh yeah, they also hate it when i tell them to turn off their cars when we're out on calls. "but my car will get hot!" is the usual reply......some people just don't get it :rant:

don't get me wrong, this isn't like one of Laura's "i hate my coworkers" rants, I love the folks i work with; i'm just tired of being ridiculed for trying to think in the future and not use our resources, "because we can." :banghead:
 
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JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
Whats wrong with hugging trees?
(I feel your pain...people are resistant because change threatens what thye know as "right" and it scares them.)
 
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ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
my department runs into resistance to change at the State, but its always with older workers who have done things the same way for 25 years. I'm surprised your young coworkers aren't for it....I'm all for anything that saves me time
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
I'm surprised your young coworkers aren't for it....I'm all for anything that saves me time
um...young yes. but we're talking about the same dude that almost bought an avalanche this past weekend because it gets the same MPG as his old truck and "those chevy's are going cheap!" :bonk:
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
Remember to aim and you'll be fine if the cops in NC are anything like the cops here in Seattle.
nope, we train A LOT!

free ammo every friday at the range to practice. there are a few that just don't get the whole fundamentals of shooting thing but the vast majority of officers i work with are pretty good shots. we have one of the only ranges in the region with a turning target system to include pneumatic poppers and moving targets along with a sniper/rappel tower and 300 yard range.
we are not a podunk agency that qualifies once a year for state standards. we shoot and fight a lot in training.
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
Glad to hear that. Last night the SWAT team knocked down my neighbor's house in a meth/gun raid. It bothered me that I had better gear and training as I watched them move and clear.
 

sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
Sounds really familiar... .

You threaten people because you are not only willing to try new things to improve the situation, you are probably driven and energized by making things better. Most people, I would say 5/6 if not more, are satisfied enough with the status quo that they will do nothing to change it, and will probably resent you for making them do more mental work than they would normally have to do.

People resist change because living with the status quo it is safe, comfortable, and requires no effort.

Keep your chin up, fight the good fight, and don't be discouraged or overwhelmed when others choose not to join you. Never question the value of your intellectual curiosity or desire to improve yourself and life around you. There are some people who seem to be put on this planet and in our path simply to develop character in us.

I suspect this is not be the first time you have fought against the tide, and it won't be the last. You are a man who chooses your battles, knowing the odds. Your co-workers' reactions should come as no surprise to you. And I think, even knowing what an uphill struggle you would face, you would do things no differently if you had it to do over.

Hang in there.
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
Sounds really familiar... .

You threaten people because you are not only willing to try new things to improve the situation, you are probably driven and energized by making things better. Most people, I would say 5/6 if not more, are satisfied enough with the status quo that they will do nothing to change it, and will probably resent you for making them do more mental work than they would normally have to do.

People resist change because living with the status quo it is safe, comfortable, and requires no effort.

Keep your chin up, fight the good fight, and don't be discouraged or overwhelmed when others choose not to join you. Never question the value of your intellectual curiosity or desire to improve yourself and life around you. There are some people who seem to be put on this planet and in our path simply to develop character in us.

I suspect this is not be the first time you have fought against the tide, and it won't be the last. You are a man who chooses your battles, knowing the odds. Your co-workers' reactions should come as no surprise to you. And I think, even knowing what an uphill struggle you would face, you would do things no differently if you had it to do over.

Hang in there.


Skip to the point.
Start asping people in the man berries, and at will use your tazer.
Change, or the balls get it...
 

Dartman

Old Bastard Mike
Feb 26, 2003
3,911
0
Richmond, VA
Skip to the point.
Start asping people in the man berries, and at will use your tazer.
Change, or the balls get it...
Or worse...

Make them read this like my boss did us...



It makes no value judgement on change, whether it's "good" or "bad" change just that you have to accept it no matter what. It's really funny to read if you subtitute the word "sh!t" for "cheese" however.
 

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
I think it is three-fold:

1. While time consuming, the old way has a known time variable. The time to learn and apply a new method is an unknown to your co-workers, and potentially could be long and difficult.

2. Paperwork is not a focus of your business, so your co-workers are not attuned to improvements in this area.

3. They hate you.
 

Quo Fan

don't make me kick your ass
I feel your pain, Manimal. We use Excel at work, and the boss doesn't understand tabs. She has us create multiple files of the same information, using up much more disc space (which she claims is at a premium), just because she is unwilling to learn something. A co-worker submitted his time sheet and expense report in a tabbed excel file, and she left him a not asking where his expense report was. She also loves making table in Word, when it would be easier and better to do the same thing is Excel. We finally got digital cameras for inspecting, even though the rest of the company has been digital for years. We still use an analog video camera, and have a company convert them to DVD for us.
 

ATOMICFIREBALL

DISARMED IN A BATTLE OF WITS
May 26, 2004
1,354
0
Tennessee
Manimal,
Are your co-workers still on this Y2K is going to happen idea!?


Remember in the movie "Hackers" agent dork hands "Mr.the Plague" a HARD COPY.Uuugh!
.
.
.
.
.
 

Trainwreck

Turbo Monkey
Aug 10, 2005
1,585
0
Med. to Well-Done in Phx
Here's one for ya- where I work, one office recently had a big push to move to a paperless environment. To compensate for this they have purchased a laser jet printer for every officer's desk even though there are 6 networked high ppm printers throughout the office. The printer on every desktop craze has recently filtered down to include the clerical staff as well. :crazy: Toner black lung!
 

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
Manimal - you're not a hippie - you can tell them you are a conservative at heart - conserving paper and therefore saving the dept $$. Try that psychological twist on for size and see what they say!

...or you can remind them of what Peter from Family guy said when he brought the circus to his wife's birthday party, "Oh look, two symbols of the Republican party - an elephant and a big fat white guy who's scared of change!"
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,189
1,431
Central Florida
I feel for you Manimal, I deal with this all the time. I spend months installing a new system/software specifically to decrease the amount of work that users have to do. And people will literally say ANYTHING to avoid learning how to use it.

A good example is the PDF preflight system we recently installed. We have been doing all kinds of PDF voodoo to get incoming files to work correctly. Now you just drop it into a folder and it's ready to go or rejected. Just boom boom, easy.

So we have one manager who says they can't use it. I set up a meeting with various entities and ask her why the the software can't be used and she says "It does not work with every file, so we might as well just do it the old way."
I stand there blinking for a second and say "So you are telling me that the system is unacceptable because it will only save you trouble 99% of the time?"
Nods eagerly "Yes!"
 

jasride

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2006
1,069
5
PA
Yeah people hate change as stated above, but give it a few weeks and they should adapt and you won't hear a word about it. You probably won't get any credit for it either like "Thanks Manimal, this new system is really working great" but at least you made you and your co-workers jobs a little easier. Same with highway improvements, when people hear of a change in there local commute in the paper "EVERYBODY" goes crazy. But when it's all said and done it usually is for the better.

Or yeah, a good zap on the chaps with the ol teaser, i mean tazer and they should corporate.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
Accepting change often includes admitting there is a larger problem. That is very difficult for some people.
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
don't get me wrong, this isn't like one of Laura's "i hate my coworkers" rants, I love the folks i work with; i'm just tired of being ridiculed for trying to think in the future and not use our resources, "because we can." :banghead:

I don't hate my co-workers, I hate my staff. :)

I'll never be able to understand why people are resistant to change that will make their lives easier. My answer, people are stupid.
 

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
Or worse...

Make them read this like my boss did us...



It makes no value judgement on change, whether it's "good" or "bad" change just that you have to accept it no matter what. It's really funny to read if you subtitute the word "sh!t" for "cheese" however.
Oh man...
That book brings back bad memories. My old job had a whole seminar on it.

As for change - I'm all for it in the name of efficiency. However, changing for the sake of change is lame in my opinion. I've had many managers who all of a sudden decide they want to completely rewrite procedures just to show that they are attempting to make the office more efficient with their "great ideas"...It usually ends up causing more trouble and wasting more time in the end.

That being said, I've been on the other side too. Its not easy. Even if you can show them its easier/more efficient, they won't do it.
 

ryebread

Monkey
Jun 20, 2007
138
0
Central Oregon
My boss accused me of being resistant to change once. The simple fact of the matter was that I thought her idea was F*#$ing retarded and poorly thought out. Sometimes I wish I worked in an industry that carried firearms.
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,376
12,532
In a van.... down by the river
You got good backups? Because in my experience people have been burned WAY too often by the IT guy staring blankly when everything goes to $hit and restores are requested.

Your idea does sound good - just make sure there is SOLID tech process behind it...
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
You got good backups? Because in my experience people have been burned WAY too often by the IT guy staring blankly when everything goes to $hit and restores are requested.

Your idea does sound good - just make sure there is SOLID tech process behind it...
i'm not worried about backup. i'm on the tech. committee and am privy to all of the details of our backup systems...and they are redundant, to say the least.

oddly enough, my department is on the cutting edge of law enforcement technology. we were the first agency in the region to make the switch to air cards in our mobile laptops, we all have e-citation, all of our departmental business/news is handled via the blog and email. it's mainly the other 5 people in my unit that are having a hard time adapting to the new world.

oh well, come august, they'll have to do it.
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
Old dogs, new tricks...same ol' crap.

At the place I'm now working, which is small (<20 people), there are 3 other design engineers who are all very senior, as in 55yo+ and decades of experience in design work. They each know a different design program which they each believe is best. I know two of the programs, and am quickly learning the third. I ask why they don't take the time to learn the other programs their peers use since they have copies of it available to use and replicate and I am greeted with blank looks, usually followed quickly by a tirade from each one why their software is better than the other guys. This is something basic that could be saving the company a lot of time and engineering man-hours, along with general confusion of keeping track of thousands of files in 3 different formats. I asked the boss why he doesn't just pick one and make the staff adhere to it, and I get the idea he's tried and just given up.