Tonight we discussed the faces of resistance and the idea that as consultants and people, we often missed the cues (verbal and non verbal behaviors) that resistance has entered the world.
Why do we miss it?
Lots of reasons, but one that is very powerful for me is this: we are so practiced at deceiving ourselves and hiding our own resistance that we can't even tell when we're doing it. So, it can be hard to detect in others--our blind spots have moved beyond ourselves to include those others.
And when we can recognize resistance in others, what is that all about? Most often, at least in my case, I am a master in seeing the faults of others and keeping my blindness at home, thank you very much. Ever notice that there are people in this world who can talk about the problems, faults and mistakes of others but rationalize their own? I have, and sometimes I've caught myself doing just that.
Blindness can be big, small and in between. There are no limits to the extent of blindness. On the flip side, sight and insight can be big, small and in between. The biggest blind spots are often the ones that are closest to home, that we use liberally to protect ourselves and those we love. Becoming a blind person who sees starts with me. Your me is called "you".
So my question for myself: how do I show resistance? What does that resistance protect? What do I fear?
Penny, the resistance of which you speak is HUGE! It it HUGE because we don't even know it is there.
ReplyDeleteI found Schein's next chapter on the ORJI cycle tough to take because it talks about just such blind spots: "... we do not think and talk about what we see; we see what we are able to think and talk about." p.87 Schein says that as consultants need to observe and acknowledge our blindness to predispositions, stereotypes and preconception because our needs will distort our perceptions. The first step of Observation is most important because each of the traps that our efforts may fall into later in the cycle originate with our limited ability to grasp distortion-free reality in Observation.
As practical as he is, Block was more reassuring about the bias we carry. He says treat it as insight and use it to your advantage as you observe the organization and the data.
I think both perspectives are helpful - the key for me is to know that I don't know.