Resistance to Change

A Guide to Harnessing Its Positive Power

By (author) Thomas R. Harvey, Elizabeth A. Broyles

Not available to order

Publication date:

16 June 2010

Length of book:

140 pages

Publisher

R&L Education

ISBN-13: 9781607092162

Resistance is at the heart of the change process, yet it is often overlooked or perceived as a negative force. This book explores resistance as a natural, positive, and necessary component of change. Twenty discrete resistance factors_likely to be found in a variety of circumstances_are described. The short vignettes that accompany each make the resistance factors come alive. Beyond gaining greater insights into the nature of these sources of resistance, the reader is provided with specific strategies, or antidotes, to harness the power of resistance, transforming it from a negative to a positive force. An included survey tool, built based on questions presented at the end of each chapter, will assist leaders in assessing potential sources of resistance to change events. An eight-step resistance-based change model_transactional in nature and simple in application_supports the reader in successfully moving nearly any change project toward a positive outcome.
Harvey's book, Building Teams, Building People, has been my bible for working with team conflicts. The timing of Harvey and Broyles' latest book could not be more divine. In this accelerated pace of change in the workplace, resistance to change is to be expected. Harvey and Broyles' strategies to deal with such resistance—to change in organizational culture, to deal with insecurity and fear of failure, to build trust relationships, to create personal connections with change, and to implement a theory of small wins—will be the reference for successful leaders.