My clients regularly complain to me about how resistance is a bad thing and constantly gets in the way of their successful organizational change efforts. “Why can’t he (or those people) just accept it and get on board?” While it can be painful at times when you find yourself on the receiving end of someone’s resistance to change, I would offer that resistance can be a GOOD thing.

So what exactly is resistance, and why do so many people have a negative impression of it? According to one dictionary, resistance can be defined simply as a force that opposes or retards motion. When that “motion” is change – the act or process of altering something and replacing it with another – that resistance can present a serious problem for the longer-term success of a change initiative. Read more ›










