If the headline of this article caught your attention, then you’ve probably been in a position where you’ve tried to implement something new, and a few select people on your team, just dug in their heels. 

This can be as obvious as them flat out telling you they don’t think it will work and they are not interested in trying. 
Or perhaps they took the passive-aggressive route and just secluded themselves, refusing to learn something new and hoping it will just go away with time.  

In our business, we have the pleasure (if you can call it that) of seeing both of the above and everything in between.
It’s no surprise: Human beings don’t like change. 

It’s to be expected to meet a little resistance when implementing a big change. 

Three camps immediately emerge:

• Early Adopters. These are the people who have been eager for some change and can’t wait.
• I’m Not Sures. This isn’t necessarily bad, but they sit on the fence waiting to see what happens. Usually when you demonstrate a little bit of success, these folks are all in.
• Refuse to Change. The most dangerous part of these people is that they see the change coming and quickly try to recruit as many people as they can to join their crusade against the change. 

On the surface, it seems simple. Just get rid of the ones that are a problem. Here’s the catch, they are generally your most tenured people, and are usually holding an important position in your company. 

If you’re just starting your lean journey, you probably don’t have every process standardized and therefore these people also have a lot of tribal knowledge. 

If they just got up and walked out the door, the perception is, there would be great struggle to follow.

Remember the old adage that has something to do with being caught between a rock and a hard place? 

Before you lose all hope in these folks who seem to be somewhat stuck in the mud, know that I have personally witnessed these individuals flip a switch and become the biggest advocates for continuous improvement. 

I wish I could say it’s the majority, but it’s definitely not.

It’s hard to say why these people are the way they are. 

More than likely they were brought up in an environment where failure was frowned upon or you were punished if you did not succeed. 

This would certainly lead to a mindset of when you find something that works, never change it.

For a moment, imagine the world where, when you have an idea that could help improve things and you merely have to make mention of it at the morning meeting, your team immediately goes to work on implementing it. 

They run the experiment and report back to you on the results. Everyone understands that failure is a critical element to progress.

This is a reality at lean companies all across the world. 

It didn’t happen overnight, it didn’t happen with the big announcement that we’re all just gonna accept change. It happens over the years of consistency. 

Demonstrating that your place is a safe place. 

We can make mistakes, and rather than getting ostracized, the whole team says, “Well, that didn’t work, but what did we learn? Now let’s try again.”

When you boil it all down, there are two approaches to helping these people come around.

• The first one is: slow and steady. 
• The second is: We’re changing right now, like it or not.

How do you know which one is right for you? 

I use these examples.

For the slow and steady method, think of when you visit your doctor. They do a bunch of tests and discover you have high blood pressure. If you don’t do something about it, you increase the likelihood of having a heart attack one day. 
You’ve caught the problem early. You will have to change, some modifications to your diet and exercise routine will be all you need. Only mild discomfort as you implement a small changes, one at a time. 

That example pertains to a company that is not necessarily struggling. Change is not a “do or die” scenario. But you see the long-term benefits and decide this is the new direction for the company. In a nutshell, time is on your side.

For the “we’re changing right now” version, think of a hospital patient who starts to have a heart attack. The doctors rush in and do their assessment. Turns out you have a finite amount of time before you’re dead. You will need to be rushed into surgery to have the problem rectified immediately. It’s too late for any other course of action. You call in an expert (the surgeon), and he immediately opens up your chest to begin the operation. 

When he’s done, you will, undoubtedly be uncomfortable, there will be a lot of pain associated for the next few weeks while your wounds heal, and going forward, there will be no option but to adhere to the new diet and exercise routine. We can all agree that doesn’t sound ideal, but weighing it against the alternative, which was death, it’s still a better option.

So, if you feel like your company is having a financial stroke, you can see you’re not going to be around much longer without immediate and significant change, then you don’t have the luxury of hoping people slowly come around. 

This is a do-or-die situation. They can either get on board and help or get out of the way. 

Preferably they go to work at your nearest competitor where they can plague them for the next 10 years. How you decide to vet these bad apples is entirely up to you. 

Lynn Thomson (head trainer and partner at Quantum Lean) suggests sitting them down after the event that exposed their unwillingness to change and simply let them know that you were embarrassed by their behavior. 

They had the opportunity to learn “x, y, z” at the company’s expense and didn’t take advantage of it. Or they had the opportunity to work with an outside expert and refused. It’s embarrassing for the leadership team. 

Imagine having to explain to customers: “We’re trying to improve our services to you, but some of our people aren’t interested in that.”

If there’s no remorse after knowing they’ve embarrassed the company, as well as the customers and the people that provide their livelihood, this might be all you need to help along your decision.

The only thing I’m sure of is that those attitudes have to go, whether they change them themselves or you work on an exit plan for them. 

In my 20 years in business I have never once heard of anyone regretting getting rid of a bad apple.