Resistance Is Futile
You may recognize the phrase in my title for this article. It is from Star Trek and is related to the Borg. The Borg is a drone/cybernetic “collective” that operates with one mind. Borgs assimilate beings into their collective by injecting nanoprobes into them. "We are the Borg. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile." It is very ominous and frightening when starship crews hear that. But enough with the Trekkie talk.
“Resistance is futile” is a term that can be applied to many things within technology circles. It could applied to those who take a strong-arm approach to achieving a goal. It might reflect your perspective on your CAD Standards. Comply or die :) Or maybe your BIM Level of Development/Detail/Design/Definition matrix, or even your thoughts about Autodesk’s decision to stop selling perpetual licenses. But I want to take another point of reference and apply it to your reactions and leadership style when initiating change. You are called on to make change and urge progress with technology. You can storm the gates and conquer the tower by brute force… but does that always work?
You will find that people will take a resistive stance when you are rolling out new or upgraded technology. They resist and they often resist a lot. Resistance can sometimes derail your efforts and other times it may just be something to move past or around. We should avoid the temptation to point a finger at resisters if an initiative goes awry. If we start down that road, we may end up becoming competitive, win-lose driven, defensive, or uncommunicative. We end up blaming people when things do not go well, fail to see what we might have learned from them and think that if they would just stop complaining and get on board, everything would be great.
When this happens, and it will, you need to step back and see what is behind the resistance and see how to best approach the feelings that some have. Tech Managers should not just stubbornly push things through without understanding the resistance that might be involved. If we do not listen to and understand those who oppose our efforts we might miss pieces of the puzzle or not realize that we have some faulty assumptions. We should not settle into thinking that leaves us unwilling to change and expect others to “come to reality” and get on board. While it may be true that some resistance is self-serving for those who may not be aligning with your goals, it is also true that resistance is a form of feedback. Ignoring feedback robs us of important tools that may refine our targets, adjust our approaches, and actually deliver better results.
Resistance Is a Framework
Tech Managers use many terms to frame the feedback they get when introducing new tools. When people speak up they come away with positive terms such as enthusiasm, agreement, being on board, joining the party, embracing change, and others. The negative comments are called pushback, eye-rolling, annoyance, foot-dragging, criticism, or flat-out refusal. The neutral terms may be feedback or input. We use these terms or a combination of them when discussing the comments we get when new or differing technology or processes are introduced.
Whatever the comments, questions, and discussions include, the reaction of the listener (you) shapes the understanding of what they feedback is. How do you take this input and process it? Some may take questions as pushback and feel challenged or interrogated. Others may see them as positive engagement. People are trying to understand and need clarity. Some may see a reaction or question as a form of understanding. If there is no reaction, then they must not understand the impact of the change. Silence is not agreement… or is it? Can you tell the difference? It might be total agreement and people poised for action. It could be stonewalling. It could be passive-aggressive behavior. When people make no comments at all, were they even listening?
It takes an astute leader to categorize and clarify feedback as negative, positive, or ambivalence. It changes with each interaction and the personality of the person(s) involved. The interplay of people also includes the personalities of those involved. If the leader is unsure of their focus, then any resistance will be greeted with defensiveness. If the other person is strong-willed, then challenges might be hard to overcome. If the two have a history of friction then it gets even worse, as past issues that have nothing to do with the current situation come into play.
Resistance Is a Fact
You will encounter resistance at some point because you are a change agent. You get paid to help/make people move toward new technology. You are called on to make progress and change for the better. The pushback might be strong or weak, focused or random, rational or illogical, but it will come. Self-aware managers are the ones who at least know the way they will react when challenged by others.
How do you react? Are you hot headed or a cool hand? Do you get flustered easily or can you stand against the arrows of opposition (sometimes into your back)? Do you get discouraged or energized by constant questions? You need to know what you bring to the mix and how it might play into the matrix of personalities included in a team environment.
Don’t overreact to comments or questions before you know more about what might be driving these concerns. Some may push back because they have a looming deadline and change at this time would derail their project. Others may just be tired of change. After all, change takes effort and there have been too many changes in the last year or more—changes brought by you and by others. There may have been a realignment or reorganization at your firm. Be sensitive to the concerns of others.
Next time we will look into some ways of refocusing resistance and refining your approach and plans for making the most out of the opposition that might arise. You can make resistance fruitful.
