Why Is There So Much Resistance?

A few days ago I had a conversation about something everyone who is on the path toward self-organization experiences - namely the tendency to “resist.” It wasn’t the original issue my client (let’s call her Ann) came to me to explore, but it turned out to be the issue that was at the core of what was troubling her. This was not surprising to me, since most of the conversations I have with my clients eventually turn out to be about one form of resistance or another.

Ann began our conversation by describing recent behaviors by some of her colleagues that made doing her job very difficult. She recounted that these individuals appeared to be unwilling to let go of the old ways of working together. She said that they justified this by declaring that things had “been going well enough as is,” and therefore why change? “I just don’t get it” she said, “I think the company’s move to self-organization is the best thing that could have happened to us!” As we dug in deeper, she identified that the behaviors she was experiencing in her work group seemed to be rooted in a broad and general resistance towards self-organization. When we further explored the many different daily work tasks that were actually being impacted by the unfamiliar self-organizing principles, she started to appreciate some of the ways her colleagues were reacting. She came to a new realization about the immense scope of the shift being undertaken by her organization. That self-organizing processes can and do impact literally every single aspect of working and collaborating with other people. And that, understandably, this can be a very frightening and threatening transition for many individuals involved.

emotional “Ping-Pong"

In her organization, Ann holds the role that defines and coordinates all the activities around the shift to self-organization. It was obvious that she is a passionate believer and supporter of this transformation. As we continued to talk, she became aware that she had been interpreting the resistance being demonstrated by her colleagues as a personal critique. She had taken their resistance to mean that her work was not being respected or accepted, and that she therefore must not be doing a good job. And she came to realize that all this was actually triggering her own reciprocal resistance against her colleagues. And there it was - the inevitable ping-pong of emotions resulting from the underlying tensions being experienced by everyone involved.

Needless to say, this was a challenging situation for Ann. But it also goes without saying that most of us have experienced very similar situations.

ONE SHIFT EQUALS THREE

This specific situation is a great example of what I like to call a “normal ingredient” within the shift to self-organization. It is also symptomatic of the emotional roller coaster everyone experiences on their respective journeys. The overall shift is huge, and it helps to break it down into three sub-shifts: 

• Organizational

• Relational

• Personal

Many organizations kick off the transition by introducing completely new organizational structures and work processes, i.e., “the organizational,” and provide training on how to function within the new structure to everyone within the organization. What then becomes evident almost immediately is the huge (and often very uncomfortable) impact on our individual working relationships, “the relational,” that is caused by proceeding this way. Usually at this point additional trainings around “Building Successful Teams" and "Conflict Resolution" are integrated into the journey. This can be helpful, if the tools used don’t represent traditional approaches towards collaboration deployed by traditional top-down organizations. Still, no matter the tools, even this leaves much to be desires in most cases.

Being thrust into personal development

As indicated above, the transition to self-organization has a significant impact not only on the organization and on the relationships of the people involved, but inevitably on every individual’s personal development. In my experience, this is the aspect that is highly underestimated by many organizations, and the organization’s offerings tend to focus on coaching for those who request it. As I have seen in many cases, this approach is still far from sufficient.

Before embracing self-organization, it is critically important to understand that:  

Shifting into self-organization thrusts every single individual in the organization into an intense personal development journey. 

If this key aspect isn’t recognized and dealt with in an appropriate way, its absence can cause significant emotional pain and suffering and sometimes even trauma for the participating individuals. “Spaces” that enable psychological safety for everyone involved are needed. And although the expertise for how to create these spaces is still rare, it is available. That said, this expertise must be grounded in, and developed from, the actual experience of the journey as this shift can not be compared with any other type of organizational change. It is quite simply, and by definition, fundamentally different.

All three levels of the shift are equally important and need to be consciously addressed and coordinated. I am frequently asked about where to begin. And I promise to share my perspectives in a future blog post. So stay tuned.

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