Welcome, Leaders of the resistance!
Along my journey of agile coaching, some of my best teachers have been the people who resisted my efforts to coach them. Take, for instance, the former-Marine-turned-Scrum-Master who taught me over the course of several painful conversations that my job was to serve the person first, not the process. Or the Chief Technology Officer who helped me understand that leaders can be both threatened by the very idea of self-managing teams and nonetheless deeply committed to the team’s long-term growth and success.
Experiences like these and those generously shared by my fellow agilists and change agents help us understand what lies beneath the surface of resistance. Resistance, after all, is a shield. When change is inevitable or overwhelming, resistance protects us from confronting our fears, doubts, and concerns about what the change might bring. Without understanding these very real, very human reactions to change, it’s far too easy for change agents to label and dismiss so-called resisters as stubborn, change-averse, or simply difficult. But why would we expect them to be otherwise?
As Edgar Schein so succinctly put it, “Once you’ve established your attitudes about work and life, you don’t particularly want to change them. It’s just not a joyful process to give up your values and beliefs.” Nor is it a joyful process to lose your sense of autonomy, self-confidence, or competence as you’re initiated into “new ways of working.” Yet as change agents we often expect others to eagerly pick up the banner of change and march gleefully behind us. No wonder it’s so easy for both sides to become frustrated and discouraged in the process!
My purpose in collecting and sharing these stories is to inspire more honest and humane conversations about workplace change among agile coaches and other change agents. While we may not control the conditions of change, we can surely influence the experience of change we create for those we lead. We can do our best to listen, understand, and empathize, even when faced with unpopular and negative views. We can acknowledge the loss, fear, and confusion that accompany change with respect and dignity for each person involved. We can shape a constructive path toward change through collaboration and dialogue, and learn from what the resisters have to teach us. We can do our best to make change better for everyone involved. Vive la résistance!
