The same questions are asked over and over again in a form of corporate amnesia, where giving the answers does nothing to remove their confusion and anxiety. Bosses become irritated and individuals risk being dismissed as not able to cope with the change. Equally unconscious but more hidden to view are the tactics of those who associate their own survival with simply ignoring what is being asked of them - a workload that prevents taking on anything new, or an ability always to deflect conversations away from the desired change. Where the resistance is conscious, tactics change. The saboteur acts covertly, agreeing to everything but doing nothing, or finding ways of ensuring that deadlines are missed.
Emotion masquerading as logic is used to undermine progress.
Then there's the open protester, standing up to attack the validity of the arguments and destroying management presentations with ferocious persistence in pursuing the argument. While this is the overt resistance that managers dread when planning change, it is less deadly than the silent guerrillas, who will destroy by stealth if they are not unearthed and won over. Listen to the report to find out why. Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. Users of this site are subject to our privacy policy.