Overcoming the French Resistance to Change
May 1, 2006
There’s an interesting article on Time Magazine’s European site about health reform in France. The article begins by discussing French citizen’s widespread resistance to reform, using means such as mass protests and demonstrations to block the government attempt at change. Historically, these demonstrations have been very effective at stifling transformation and overhaul of government systems.
I see an important lesson in the article. Large scale changes in France seem to happen only after failed attempts at change. The failures, however, play an important role in raising public consciousness and initiating a debate over change. As the article says, "people must be won over to the idea that it will make things better, not worse."
Bruno Parent is described by Time as "one of the change agents" in the French Finance Ministry (French site). The ministry’s initial plan to merge two massive tax administrations failed spectacularly. By changing the plan of approach, however, Bruno Parent was able to eliminate the overlap between the two administrations, achieve increased operating efficiency, and help to transform the French Finance Ministry. Each situation is different, but the French may have some interesting things to teach us about how to implement change in the face of staunch opposition.
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