When I concluded my previous post (LEADING CHANGE BECAUSE CHANGE IS NEED ~ September 26), I stated I would be continuing on the theme of change by looking in today’s post at how to deal with “the majority rules.” So, here we go.
There’s such a strong tendency for people to think as individuals, the “What’s-in-it-for-me?” mentality, I believe it significantly compounds the challenge of change. I don’t know if self-centered thinking is a growing problem, but from my perspective it sure seems like it. As someone who follows Christ, the Bible instructs me to live an “other-centered” life. Instead of approaching life asking, “What’s in it for me?” it’s better to ask several other questions: “What does God want in this situation?” and “What’s the best thing for everyone involved?” I’ve heard these two different approaches to life referred to as: “ME-think” and “GROUP-think.” Several scriptures come to mind which clearly instruct us to think of others:
Romans 12:10 (NIV) “Honor one another above yourselves.” (NAS, “give preference to one another in honor.”) To “honor” means to show deference to another person.
Philippians 2:3 (NIV) “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Basically, what Paul is saying in these two verses is that our concern and consideration of others must precede our concern and consideration of ourselves. I know it’s not very American, but it is Christian.
The self-centered “me-think” which seems to be the dominant attitude today is very destructive. This attitude is so dominant I don’t feel like I even need to suggest examples. Each of us has witnessed the destructive force of selfishness, including in the context of change, within our families, workplaces, our network of friends, and our churches. On a positive note, when each member of the Christian community is committed to being other-centered, the problems of disunity and disharmony are greatly diminished. When an attitude of mutual concern is exercised, in the context of change, people have a tendency to be more open-minded and flexible. If I can see how a change can benefit others, even if I don’t personally [individually] require change, I can be supportive and enthusiastic for the sake of others and the greater good of the group.
When change is being proposed in a group where we’re a member, all of us have to fight the tendency to become very myopic. Another word for myopic is: narrow-minded. Self-centeredness is a major contributor to narrow-mindedness and the inability to see the bigger picture, which includes the perspective of others.
I haven’t said as much as I thought I would regarding, “the majority rules.” As I mentioned in the previous posts, one of the things which can be seen from Rogers’ research is that the majority will be slow to adopt or adapt to change. It would be a stretch to suggest self-centeredness is the sole cause of this slowness, but it is certainly a contributing factor. If a change is being proposed, the group leaders need to focus their efforts towards sharing how this change will ultimately benefit the group. The broader perspective and bigger picture will help those who are slower to embrace change. Most importantly, as a leader, don’t be discouraged or dismayed by the initial reaction of the group when a change is first announced. The majority will need time and more information to process the change.
Have a great weekend! *MBR
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