Combatting Resistance to Change During the COVID 19 Pandemic with Design Thinking Approach: Making a Case for the Public Sector

Human mind thrives on distraction for a change. Yet, counterintuitively, any alteration from the regular or routine baffles mankind and is perceived by default as a problem that automates resistance. Conventionally defined problems generate conventional solutions which usually don't last. Contrarily, a problem defined by those most affected by it or by living the experience of the affected ones, yields richer insights providing far lasting solutions. The early 2020 quarantines and social distancing practices globally, in response to the spread of COVID-19 resulted in the major disruption of workflow worldwide across public and private sectors with the digitalized operations. To solve the problem resulting due to this scenario, the current study used a design thinking approach for innovative and lasting solutions with wide applicability. The human-centric core of this design investigates resistance to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic by understanding human mindsets, needs, and limitations. Engaging a purpose-led participatory research design, the qualitative data on why people resist change is collected using ethnographic tools with focus groups of employees from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. The quantitative data is collected including other public sectors using a survey. With a sample size of 34 participants who volunteered to take part in the study in a short span of time, the paper culminates in proposing solutions that can be prototyped for testing and refined before being generalized and acceptable for wider implementation. The design thinking approach adopted, thus aims to establish transition guidelines for managing future organizational change with minimal resistance.