In consulting and working with organizations regarding change, a major concern surfaces when I hear questions like:
"What do we do about the resistors?"
"How do we lower the resistance?"
"What if people don't buy-in?"
It is our natural inclination to deal with resistance by combating it, "pushing back" or in some other way getting defensive. We know from our experience that rarely works. And while we know those approaches don't work, we resort to them anyway.
In my experience you will only change your response to the resistance when you view the resistance differently. We encounter three basic initial responses when sharing a change with others:
- Acceptance
- Resistance
- Apathy
Assuming you'd pick acceptance as your first choice, let me ask you a question - would you prefer resistance or apathy? While you might be tempted to think apathy - after all in the moment of conversation that might be easier - in the end you know you don't want apathy either.
When people are apathetic they don't care. When people are resistant, they are engaged, just not sold.
The next time you encounter resistance, remember this mathematical equation,
resistance = engagement
then respond to the resistance you encounter hopefully, openly and eagerly. Your new response will not only be more pleasant, it will be more successful.
I like your comment about resistance = engagement. In some situations in group development where the group is dependant you want to move them to fight (although it may be harder on you) just to get some momentum.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to change though I rely on Beckhard's D x V x F >R, or for sustainable change you have to ascertain if the (D)isatisfaction with the status quo, and (V)ision of the future, and (F)irst steps that are visible to the group are greater than the (R)esistance.
Sometimes it's just a case where the group does not see an issue. Sometimes it's a case where the vision is absent or unclear. Sometimes you can see the disatisfaction, see the vision but the path from a to b is obscure.
I've come across all three at one time or the other. When these factors are clearly demonstrated the resistance melts.
If I need to encounter resistance then would have improvement instead of engagement because engagement keep person busy all the time, it is true that engagement brings improvement in life and work and we need to opt it if get chance because only engagement can change or bring improvement in life or business.
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