Resistance is Futile

If you’re a Star Trek fan the phrase “Resistance is Futile” means, ‘don’t bother resisting because we’ll overtake you.’ When it comes to Organizational Change, I’m using the phrase to mean that resistance is just not useful or productive. Let’s take a look at why we resist and how we can use our resistance to get better outcomes.

fu·tile

/ˈfyo͞odl,ˈfyo͞odīl/ Learn to pronounce
incapable of producing any useful result; pointless.

Credit: Dictionary.com

Have you ever worked with someone who seems to object to every new idea, no matter what it is? I encountered someone last week who objected to high-performing teams as one where members like each other. I didn’t foresee this as a controversial idea. It got me thinking, why would someone object to something so innocuous? Am I communicating in a way that invites an argument? Do some people just want to be contrary? Experiments show that people easily go along with anything, but yet they also object to everything. What exactly is going on here?

Resistance as a learning style. Some people need to poke the box in order to learn. It seems like resistance, but it’s really their way of turning the information over in their minds, exploring its boundaries. They are trying to find places where the idea can be disproven. “I was on a high performing team and we didn’t…