People are resistant to change. Any kind of change, whether personal, traditional, technological, professional, or anything else can be difficult, even if the change is for the better. We become comfortable with a process, easy or difficult as it may be, and even when we know a change might increase productivity or efficiency, we resist.

This article on the BBC discusses a massive overhaul of over 26,000 XP machines and other devices at British retail chain John Lewis and the grocery stores they own, Waitrose, as well as their head office. Unlike simple upgrades, this conversion was a complete switchover to Windows 7, and the article mentions the impact that Microsoft’s User Account Control would have (XP didn’t have that, but it’s an important security inclusion), converting all the software because of it, and even the fact that keeping XP support from Microsoft was costing them £5.5 million a year, since official support ended earlier this year.

Waitrose

But what’s really important in this article, what really stands out, is the first of several bullets at the end that tout the benefits of the overhaul. That first bullet reads “Happier staff, who enjoy the more up-to-date software and faster machines.” And that’s the important thing; what you tend to find is that no matter how many people moan and complain about the change / upgrade, they will very quickly come around once they see the benefits of the new way of doing things.;

People always complain about impending change, it’s part of the human condition. Consider having to switch to a new smartphone platform (iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone), or to a new operating system (Mac, Windows, even Linux), or anything that is different from what you’re doing now. It would be met with trepidation, and that’s understandable.

You should always listen to the concerns of the users even if the user is yourself, but they will very often resist even good change. That shouldn’t stop you from what will be a well-reasoned upgrade process, even if it means overhauling an organization’s or department’s infrastructure, or your own technology.