Resistance as a Resource
When we try to improve our organizations, we inevitably meet resistance. This session is about how to turn resistance from a frustration into a resource. Whatever else it may be, resistance is information — about the people we are asking to change, about the environment in which the change will happen, about the changes we recommend, and about ourselves. You will learn how to interpret people’s responses as valuable information, and how to translate that information into effective action to move your organization toward agility.
Resistance gives us important information about the key factors that affect how people respond to our proposals. First, resistance gives us information about the way we have communicated our ideas. If we communicate poorly, we cannot create a shared understanding with the people we are asking to change. Without a shared understanding, we are more likely to misunderstand each other’s words, actions, and intentions.
Second, resistance also tells us about our relationships with those we are asking to change. Our relationships set the context in which we communicate. If we do not like, trust, and respect each other, we can not communicate effectively.
Third, resistance provides information about the people we are asking to change. People’s responses come from their experiences, beliefs, and values. If our ideas for improvement do not fit those experiences, beliefs, and values, people will not change - at least not in the way we ask.
Fourth, resistance gives us information about the environment in which we are asking people to change. If the environment does not support the change - with training, incentives, freedom to take risks, a sense of contribution, among other things - people will not be able to change in a sustainable way.
Finally, and most importantly, our response to resistance tells us about ourselves. We see resistance when people respond in ways we don’t want or don’t expect. So resistance is information about our values and about expectations for how change happens.
This paper describes ways to tap into that information, to turn resistance from a frustration to a resource. Once that information is available, we can adjust the environment to support our changes, or adjust our changes to fit the environment. We can create more trust in our relationships with people, and communicate more clearly and accurately. We can understand what people care about, so we can make our changes more appealing. Most importantly, we can change our own beliefs, expectations, and behaviors so that our responses to resistance are more appropriate and effective.
By treating people’s responses as a valuable resource, we can translate resistance to change into energy for lasting improvement.