Motivating Employees to Embrace New Learning Methods

They were hemorrhaging money on digital tools their managers refused to use. The situation: A retail giant in the diamond industry with post-COVID digital sales tools sitting unused. Store managers resisting change. Market volatility crushing performance. Here's what every other company does: More training on features. Explaining benefits harder. Pushing adoption metrics. Here's what my client did instead: They ignored the technology completely. Instead, they trained 200+ managers on something nobody else was teaching; how to fall in love with change itself. For 8 months, we didn't focus on the digital tools once. We taught them Change Enthusiasm®, how to see disruption as opportunity, resistance as data, and overwhelm as information. We certified managers in emotional processing, not technical skills. The results were staggering: → 30% increase in digital adoption (without a single tech training session) →  2X ROI boost for those who embraced the mindset →  25% sales uplift in stores with certified managers →  96% of participants improved business outcomes Here's the breakthrough insight: People don't resist technology. They resist change. Fix the relationship with change, and adoption becomes automatic. While competitors were fighting symptoms, this company cured the disease. The secret wasn't better technology training, it was better humans. When managers learned to thrive through change, they stopped seeing digital tools as threats and started seeing them as allies. Most companies are solving the wrong problem. They're trying to make people adopt technology. We help people embrace transformation. The results speak for themselves. What would happen if you stopped training on tools and started training on change? ♻️ Share if you believe the future belongs to change-ready organizations 🔔 Follow for insights on making transformation inevitable, not optional

We’ve seen it so often this past year: rolling out GenAI tools often sparks resistance. People are hesitant, unsure, even fearful. And honestly, it makes sense. When a new technology arrives, especially one as transformative as GenAI, it can feel like it’s coming for your job or disrupting everything you know.    But what if resistance is less about the technology itself and more about how we introduce it? In our research, we found that the teams adopting GenAI most effectively didn’t just get a crash course in how to use it. They were supported through the change. Their managers weren’t just proponents—they used the technology themselves, experimenting alongside their teams. These managers created space for employees to try the tools, ask questions, and even make mistakes.    One team made GenAI training playful, experimenting with writing sonnets and brainstorming absurd ideas. Another leaned into the practical side, customizing workflows with direct input from employees. The results were clear: higher adoption rates, greater productivity, and—most importantly—more excitement and less fear.    Resistance often signals something deeper—a lack of trust, unclear benefits, or anxiety about being left behind. The solution isn’t to push harder; it’s to bring employees into the process from the beginning and have leaders learn and adopt right alongside them. And focus on how GenAI can eliminate the mundane and amplify what they love about their work.    The best adoption strategies don’t just focus on the tools. They focus on the people. #MakingWorkWork #FutureOfWork #GenAI 

How do you take a resistant team and guide them through a successful transformation? I led a team that went from evaluating programs to developing them—a complete transformation. At first, there was a lot of pushback, but by understanding their concerns and using a thoughtful approach, we made the transition work.   ---Here’s what I learned--- 🔸Resistance isn’t about the change—it’s about fear of loss. Through candid one-on-one conversations, I discovered the team feared losing their expertise. 🔸Facts don’t inspire change. Stories do. Rather than overwhelm them with reasons for the shift, I shared stories. Emotional buy-in through storytelling sparked curiosity. 🔸Small behavioral nudges lead to lasting change. We didn’t push the team into full-scale program development right away. Instead, we used small steps that eased them into the transition. This made the change feel natural, not overwhelming. 🔸Your biggest resister can become your strongest advocate. I focused on the team’s informal leader—the person everyone trusted. Once he embraced the change, the rest followed. 🔸Embrace failure as a stepping stone to success. We reframed setbacks as learning opportunities. By openly discussing challenges and solutions, we created a culture where innovation thrived and fear of failure diminished. 🏡 Think of change like remodeling a house. Exciting, but full of unexpected snags. In business, it’s the same—something always comes up. Plan for it. Expect it. 💡 Key Lesson: Resistance isn’t a roadblock—it’s part of the process. Expect pushback and guide your team with strategic nudges. What unexpected challenges have you faced when leading change?