Chapter 7: Navigating Resistance and Building Influence
The email arrived on a Tuesday morning: "I was surprised to learn that an assessment of my faculty's capabilities was conducted without my involvement or input." The dean was not wrong. The assessment had followed proper methodology, was authorized by the VP Academic, and had produced accurate findings. None of that mattered. The architecture was now contaminated by the process that produced it. Meanwhile, Marcus had been watching the architecture's traction fade -- steering committee attendance dropping, the quarterly review postponed because three of five VP attendees had scheduling conflicts. Diane was direct: "You are confusing crisis enthusiasm with organizational commitment." This chapter gives you the framework for what to do when the architecture is right and the organization is not acting on it. Six sources of resistance, each requiring a different response -- and the practices that build influence that survives when the crisis energy fades.
What You'll Be Able To Do
By the end of this chapter, you'll be able to:
- Identify the root cause of a specific resistance scenario, and respond in a way that addresses that cause rather than amplifying the original message.
- Build credibility through small, useful contributions before asking for larger commitments.
- Know the difference between a stakeholder you need to inform, one you need to engage, and one you need to recruit, and design accordingly.
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