Do you have a new idea? Do you have a proposal to try something different? Are you trying to sell a change initiative? If so, be prepared for the attacks coming your way from the resisters, the frightened, or the sometimes just plain mean people who don’t want you to succeed.
We have all experienced this problem, and in a very personal way, because it is an old, common, human, and increasingly important problem. The four common tactics that resisters to change routinely use are
- fear-mongering: An attack strategy involves creating infectious anxiety, scaring others into believing that a good idea is far too risky to pursue.
- delay: Stalling an idea with never-ending questions or requests for more meetings. A more creative approach is to focus attention on an urgent problem that, the attacker insists, can be resolved only if the new idea is put on hold.
- confusion: Throw irrelevant numbers, facts, and convoluted questions into the discussion, and suddenly support starts to waver.
- ridicule: A direct attack on you, the creator of the idea, engendering indirect doubts about the idea itself.
In this session, Dan will reveal strategies commonly used by your critics—and how to defend against them so that your idea survives to make a positive change.
