This is a great case study of how one workplace overcame resistance to change. Despite the evidence base, simplicity of the task, beneficial outcomes, and mandated use a surgical checklist failed to be widely adopted. Then management changed track, and in stead of fighting the resistors, they worked with them and success was the result. Read the full HBR article "How One Health System Overcame Resistance to a Surgical Checklist" or an excerpt below:
Excerpt: The natural reaction by leaders at all levels charged with implementing change is to fight the resisters. But research and the experiences of some organizations suggest that embracing those who resist change the most — empathizing with them, identifying the sources of their resistance, and helping them see change as positive — is far more effective...
Neurologically, the emotional brain first feels something negative about the change and then the rational brain kicks in and thinks of reasons to defend that feeling. Resistance can take many forms: apathy, doubt, hopelessness, rejection. A more subtle (but all too familiar) form of resistance, especially in compliance-based settings like health care, is publicly acting in accordance while privately disagreeing.