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SessionSix027

Resistance as a Resource
DaleEmery

You are a change artist, creative, intelligent and insightful. Part of your job is to improve your organization. You identify a need, envision an improvement, and make your proposal.

Someone to your right says, "But we tried that before, and it didn�t work." Someone to the left says, "But we�ve never done that before." Right in front of you, a third person says, "But that�s no different from what we�re doing now." From the background, you hear a rising chorus of, "But we don�t have time!"

You're getting resistance. Now what do you do?

In this session, we will explore an approach that works: Crank up your curiosity and empathy!

Whatever else it may be, resistance is information--information about the values and beliefs of the people you are asking to change, about the organization, about the change you are proposing, and about yourself as a change agent.

This session is about how to turn resistance from a frustration into a resource. You will learn and create new ways to interpret people's responses as valuable information, and new ways to translate that information into effective action to move forward with change.

ProgramScheduleAndSessions2006