The Physics of Leadership Series (Part 6): The Human Synergistics of Resistance
Integrating change to "build-in" alignment at the front of transformation, not "buy-in" conformance at the back
When a leader falls into the Expectation Trap and demands instant self-actualization or achievement orientation from their team, the organization actively defends itself. In other words, when leadership begins to push the system that management created, the system starts to push back.
To understand what this resistance looks like—and how to overcome it—we turn to Dr. J. Clayton Lafferty and Human Synergistics® How Culture Works model. It provides a brilliant integrated change framework, proving that transformation is not a singular event; it is a scaled progression.
True organizational change requires aligning individual transformation, with group transformation, to ultimately shift the broader organizational culture and effectiveness. But the entire engine of this integrated change model is enabled by one thing:
LEADERSHIP!
So, if you want to improve performance, you must improve culture. To improve culture, you must improve the antecedents, which includes structures, systems, technology, and leadership skills and qualities. When leadership impact is poor, and change is forced from the top down, the human logistics of the organization default to defensive routines.
The first line of management usually adopts Aggressive-Defensive behaviors (exercising more power and expecting perfection). In response, the next line adopts Passive-Defensive behaviors (avoiding decisions or hiding behind rules). Either way, fear of making mistakes takes hold and innovation is stifled as management looks to fix the blame rather than empowering employees to fix the system.
The Voice of the System
The antidote to these defensive routines requires a fundamental shift in perspective by way of new information from the system. If you want successful, worthwhile transformation, you have to get the voice of the customer into the voice of the system at the front end of change.
In organizational transformation, your "customer" is not the external buyer; it is the employee doing the actual work for which you and your team are responsible. These are the one who benefit from your leadership strategies and styles.
The people operating within the system know better than anyone else where the dry rot is hidden and where the real opportunities lie. When a leader ignores this intelligence and imposes a new mechanical process, they invalidate the experience of the very people required to execute it. Defensive routines are the natural result.
Working on the System that Works on Them
To shift the culture from defensive to constructive, a leader must empower their people to work on the system that works on them every day.
This requires giving the downline the authority and the psychological safety to identify the friction and fix it themselves. Why? Because of an unbreakable law of human nature: People will own what they create, and hold themselves accountable for things they can control.
Build-In at the Front, Not Buy-In at the Back
This reveals the ultimate failure of traditional change management. Managers lock themselves in a boardroom, redesign the system in a vacuum, and then spend all their political capital trying to get "buy-in" at the back end of the change.
Leaders don't ask for buy-in at the back of change. They demand build-in at the front of change.
When you bring the voice of the downline customer into the new voice of the system from day one, resistance dissolves. You don't have to sell them on the transformation because they designed and built it.
Comments