Kushal Prakash__BLP061_Consulting_03Jan'12

Dealing with Resistance

Peter Block says that “there is no way you can talk {someone} out of their resistance because resistance is an emotional process. You cannot talk people out of how they are feeling.” He goes on to say that “the basic strategy is to help the resistance blow itself out, like a storm.”

Block suggests that there are three steps to dealing with resistance:

1.    Identify in your own mind the form of the resistance

2.    Name the resistance – use neutral language to describe the form that the resistance is taking.

3.    Be quiet – let the person respond to your statement about the resistance. Don’t keep talking. Live with the silence and tension.

Using open ended questions or statements, instead of questions or statements that can be replied to with yes or no answers, we are probably beginning to get the idea. Our statement begins with a description of the behavior which is followed by a question or statement about what is needed or how this affects the work we are trying to do.

This process of identifying, naming and being quiet provides a mechanism for getting the resistance out on the table so that it can be addressed. Being aware of these concepts may help us to identify the form of resistance that we are encountering.

Resistance to the growth of new ideas, processes, and structures is normal even in nature. But, just as in nature, growth is difficult to stop. Leaders who are unafraid to identify and name resistance can clear the path for healthy growth that will bear the fruits of success.

From Diagnosis to Discovery

The purpose of discovery is to mobilize action on a problem. Technical/business problems almost always have accompanying management problems that affect how the technical/business problem gets resolved. The approach of not to address the organizational side and see how technical recommendations get distorted or partially implemented reveals the difficulty an organization has in communicating, trusting, and managing itself.

The kind of discovery, engagement, and dialogue gives us our best approach in building client capacity and solving problems so they stay solved. This action orientation makes the assumption that client readiness to accept our input is as important to discovery as the technical analysis of the problem to be solved.

Thus we can say there are two primary purposes of discover phase. Firstly, to develop independent and fresh way of looking at things and secondly, to create a process that leads to client commitment, ownership and action.

In order to do so following process should be considered worth for:

1.    Asking questions about the client’s own personal role in causing or maintaining the target problem.

2.    Asking questions about what others in the organization are doing to cause or maintain the target problem.

3.    Involving the client in interpreting the data and generating recommendations.

4.    Recognizing the similarity between how the client manages you and how they manage their own organization.

5.    Condensing the data into a limited number of issues.