Beyond No Harnessing the Power of Resistance for Positive Organizational Growth
Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
ERIK NAGEL, PhD, is a professor and Vice Director of the Lucerne School of Business and Co-Institute Director of the Institute for Management and Regional Economics IBR. He researches and teaches leadership, change management, resistance, cultural change, and organizational consulting.
Start viewing resistance as something beneficial instead of an inconvenience that must be eliminated
Beyond No: Harnessing the Power of Resistance for Organizational Growth is a thought-provoking exploration of the concept of resistance—something that is bound to arise within every organization in response to new projects, policies, or initiatives. Rather than seeing resistance as an inconvenience that needs to be eliminated, this book invites readers to take a new approach to different types of resistance, both hidden and obvious, and instead view resistance as a guiding light to discover objective differences, dissatisfaction, criticism of procedures, or different assessments or values.
This book contains a wealth of real stories from a wide variety of business leaders, detailing situations where resistance was encountered, solutions that were implemented, and their outcomes. Readers will also learn about:
- Shortcuts that lead to dead ends when managing resistance, including thinking “man does not want to change” and “one third is always against it anyways”
- Explanatory models behind resistance, including emotional events, attempts at domination, normative control, and expression of a damaged relationship
- Principles to productively manage resistance, including commitment, dignity, right to dissent, learning, and mindfulness
Beyond No earns a well-deserved spot on the bookshelves of all business leaders, executives, and managers seeking to achieve excellence in leadership through a thoughtful approach to resistance instead of relying on ineffective command-and-control tactics.
Introduction 1
Overview: Chapters 1–7 3
Chapter 1 Resistance: An Everyday Exception 5
1.1 Managers Tell Their Stories 7
1.2 The Word “Resistance” 8
1.3 Resistance: Burden or Resource? 11
1.4 Resistance Is Part of Everyday Life 13
1.5 The Winds of Resistance Blow from All Directions 14
1.6 The Zone of Uncertainty 16
Summary 18
Chapter 2 Overt Resistance 21
2.1 Resistance as an Emphatically Expressed Demand 22
2.2 Resistance as an Open and Endless Power Struggle 37
2.3 Resistance as Whistleblowing 48
2.4 Resistance as Organized Industrial Action 55
Summary 60
Chapter 3 Covert Resistance 61
3.1 Resistance as Humor 67
3.2 Resistance as Cynical Distancing 77
3.3 Resistance Between Submissive Overfulfillment and Subtle Refusal 83
3.4 Resistance as a Game of Rivalry 87
3.5 Resistance as Personal Rejection 91
3.6 Resistance as Willful Damage to the Organization 95
Summary 104
Chapter 4 Repressed Resistance 105
Summary 111
Chapter 5 Shortcut Assumptions That Lead to a Dead End 113
5.1 “People Are the Problem” 118
5.2 “One Third Is Always Against It Anyway” 127
5.3 “Where I Am, There Is Reason” 130
5.4 “Thinking at the Top, Doing at the Bottom” 137
5.5 “Management Must Fight the Inertia of the Organization” 141
5.6 Reflecting Instead of Taking Shortcuts 146
Summary 149
Chapter 6 What Is Behind Resistance: Explanatory Models 151
6.1 Resistance from the Perspective of Psychology 153
6.2 Resistance Arising Between People 158
6.3 Resistance to Control and Appropriation by the Organization 171
6.4 Resistance Due to Cultural Routines Within the Organization 180
Summary 189
Chapter 7 Leadership: The Art of Dealing Productively with Resistance 191
7.1 Four Leadership Principles 193
7.2 The Four Leadership Principles Illustrated by a Specific Case 203
7.3 Artfully Confronting Resistance 207
7.4 Artfully Evoking Resistance 217
7.5 Artfulness and Resistance: A Final Reflection 221
Summary 222
Sources 225
Literature 225
Web Links 231
Acknowledgments 233
About the Author 235
Index 237
Transform organizational resistance from an inconvenience into a competitive advantage
Beyond No: Harnessing the Power of Resistance for Positive Organizational Growth is a groundbreaking new take on the transformative power of taking a close look at resistance to change and examining its root causes. In the book, change management and leadership expert Erik Nagel walks you through how to transform organizational resistance to change from an annoyance into a powerful resource, capable of highlighting critical issues that demand to be addressed.
With case studies and examples from a wide variety of business leaders, you’ll discover how to react when you encounter resistance. You’ll also discover strategies you can implement immediately for understanding and managing that resistance to help drive change and facilitate a good relationship with your employees. From the explanatory models behind resistance to common mistakes made by leaders who encounter it, this book describes hands-on steps you can take to turn resistance into an enduring competitive advantage.
Representing a startlingly insightful new perspective on an age-old business problem, Beyond No will earn a spot in the libraries of managers, executives, founders, entrepreneurs, project managers, and other business leaders.
“Beyond No offers a refreshing perspective on resistance, transforming it from a problem to a resource for growth. With sharp insights and practical guidance, Dr. Nagel equips leaders to use resistance as a tool for better communication, participation, and cultural alignment. This book is an essential guide for leaders ready to move beyond conflict and turn challenges into opportunities for meaningful progress.”
--DR. MARSHALL GOLDSMITH, Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won't Get You There
"Erik Nagel's Beyond No offers a powerful new perspective on resistance to change. Instead of seeing it as an obstacle, Nagel reframes resistance as a valuable resource, urging us to understand its root causes and engage with it constructively. Backed by solid research and real-world examples, this book is essential reading for anyone navigating organizational change."
--CÉLINE SCHILLINGER, leadership advisor and educator, author of Dare to Un-Lead: The Art of Relational Leadership in a Fragmented World
"Resistance to change in organizations too often is viewed as unexpected, unnatural, and unavoidable. In Beyond No, Erik Nagel insightfully reframes it as a powerful resource. Instead of trying merely to overpower resistance, leaders must understand its roots - messy communication, cultural barriers, or flawed change processes. This important book offers a fresh perspective, equipping leaders with the tools to constructively understand and engage with resistance, turning opposition into an opportunity for growth. A must-read for those leading change in complex organizations."
--MICHAEL WATKINS, author of The First 90 Days
Resistance to change is a universal experience for managers and business leaders tasked with guiding their organizations through contemporary challenges and into the future. Too often, however, that resistance is written off as an annoyance or an irritant, rather than the important signal that it really is.
In Beyond No: Harnessing the Power of Resistance for Positive Organizational Growth, renowned leadership and change management expert Erik Nagel delivers an insightful new perspective on how to view organizational resistance not as an obstacle to be overcome, but as a resource to be harnessed. You’ll learn how to understand both subtle and overt resistance in order to turn legitimate disagreements and important instances of dissatisfaction and criticism into something productive. This can create a competitive advantage for your company.
The author explains how to use instances of resistance as opportunities to ask critical questions: What is the resistance actually about? What are the concerns and actual reasons? How did it come about? Through asking these and other questions, you’ll discover unexpected insights into your company and uncover new areas of potential improvement.
Beyond No contains case studies and examples from managers of companies of varying sizes. They discuss their everyday experiences of resistance and explain how they forced a closer examination of important issues that would otherwise have remained hidden. It also describes the different kinds of resistance and offers hands-on strategies you can deploy immediately to deal with resistance productively.
Perfect for managers, executives, entrepreneurs, founders, and other business leaders, Beyond No is also an essential read for project managers and technical and administrative employees tasked with managing and furthering change within their companies.
Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
ERIK NAGEL, PhD, is a professor and Vice Director of the Lucerne School of Business and Co-Institute Director of the Institute for Management and Regional Economics IBR. He researches and teaches leadership, change management, resistance, cultural change, and organizational consulting.