In the Face of Resistance
There are three paths when facing resistance…stay the course, adjust, or abort. If you spend any time with groups of humans, you are bound to be greeted with resistance. From mild indifference to out right opposition, we humans often disagree.
When choosing how to go (boldly) forward, we can turn to the 23rd century engineer-cum-philosopher, Montgomery “Scotty” Scott of the USS Enterprise for wisdom…
I’m giving it all she’s got, Captain!
First choice, stay the course. This may feel like the most natural approach at times. After all, when you’re right, you’re right, right? Other people just need to get in line with your logic. Maybe. Or maybe not.
Even when we think we have an airtight line of reasoning, we still need to pay attention to the reactions of the people around us. Have we taken all the information into consideration? Did we miss something? Do we need to…adjust?
Ya cannot change the laws of physics!
Sometimes, the challenges to finding a workable solution are a matter of adjusting. You may have to adjust how you’re presenting an idea, or perhaps make a small adjustment to the idea itself. One way to do this is taking a step back to a point upon which everyone agreed. Often this is a higher level goal. When that agreement is reaffirmed, move again toward the more tactical goal making sure to take into account what you have learned through the discussion.
She cannot take any more, Captain! She’s gonna blow!
The final choice, abort, is applied when it’s clear from the response you’re receiving that you need to take a break, and any further pressure by you would do more harm than good. Listen to criticism with an open mind. Is the resistance due to a misalignment of timing? Is there limited appetite for change? Other times, it’s deeper than that, and the obstacles to success are too great.
Regardless of your choice, the key is attending to the moment so that you know when to push and when to pause. Listening with your eyes as well as your ears will help you know when to stay the course, adjust, or abort.
May you live long and prosper.
