chronic resistance can be resolved ... Re: [Ailist] RE: What You Think upon Grows

[Lionel Boxer]

I disagree with Howard - chronic resistance can be resolved.  The strong leaders who I interviewed for my phd did deal with chronic resistance (that is the main point of my PhD findings).  They did so by identifying those who thought they had the right to resist and told them in no uncertain terms that they were wrong about that perception.  They may have been appreciative in their approach, but they were determined and ruthless in their approach to sort out recalcitrance.  They did lead by example and they did appreciate the good things that were going on, but they confronted the cronic resistance.

See: http://intergon.net/tsw/sustainableceos.pdf

One CEO of a global petrochemical firm said, "the biggest mistake I made in my career was not getting rid of people soon enough" (he tempered this by also saying that geting rid of people is the last resort - after working with them to help them sort out their misperceptions and adopt appropriate and necessary duties).

If you are going to deal with "problems" you need to deal with resistance and that is possible.

Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au
Graduate School of Business
my "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory" 
now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net
>>> "Howard Ditkoff" <howard at emergentassociates.com> 06/06/09 5:41 AM >>>
Leif,

The inventor story and the reframing of the term "problem" is an interesting one. And I think it embodies ONE of the two main "problem" cases - a deviation from a goal. In such a case of a "problem" the challenge is, indeed, to simply articulate more clearly what the goal is so that you can appreciate the difference between the present reality and the desired goal.

But there is another case of "problem" that is somewhat different. I might call that the case of an unidentified chronic point of resistance. In a way, the first case is a subset of this one. Not having a clear goal articulated can itself be a chronic point of resistance. Once the goal is clear, that "problem" is solved. But even then, in pursuing this clearer goal, you may find additional points of resistance. Some of these points of resistance come from things we can change internally, some things that we can change externally, and some that we can't change at all. The serenity prayer is relevant here. 

I think once you are seasoned in the appreciative mindset, you become better and better at stating affirmative end goals. But chronic resistance is where "problems" continue to be challenging and where AI, if it is misused as focusing only on the 'positive,' or if used in a way that assumes all resistance comes simply from internal values and beliefs or even from things humans can control at all, can really meet its match.

Best,
Howard
Website: http://www.SystemsThinker.com
Blog: http://blog.SystemsThinker.com
 Subscribe to SystemsThinker.com Blog