>We designed a set of exercises under the rubric "Aikido" into our training
>for executives relative to "mastering change", with this particular
>approach as the foundation. Essentially, we were saying, find a way to
>align the wants of the other person with the desired change (the framing
>issue) and all his/her energy will move to support change rather than
>oppose it. The executives immediately smelled something inauthentic in
>this approach, and labeled it "manipulative". We were unable to redesign
>so as to meet this objection, since the methodology involved finding out
>the presumed "opponent" wants and then tailoring your approach to feed
>those feelings. The stigma attached to this module after only a couple of
>deliveries proved too difficult to shake, and we dropped the module from
>the training after only two excursions...
Aikido is precisely the paradigm that I would/do use in approaching
resistance, not only to change but to all other "conflicts." Indeed, it
can appear "manipulative", in fact, if you do it correctly, the defender
often appears almost to be the aggressor! Timing is critical in the
techniques, as it is in dealing with resistance and conflict .... it is
better to see the conflict in advance and deal with it preemptively.
An old Indian adage: It is better to know the waterfall is there than to
hear it.
director, communication
planning and market research
texas hospital association
austin, tx
Internet: gstarnes@bga.com
CompuServe: 76233,2266
BellNet: 512/465-1515