Handling Resistance

I spent much of the last twelve years in training rooms around the UK and sometimes further afield. �Every trainer has their own approach, though not every one of them has thought through what is their philosophy of training and how their practices reflect it. I have some clear ideas that do not wholly represent […]

Changing my mind is difficult for you to do. But I do it all of the time.� So one of the most powerful ways for you to change my mind is to ask me questions.� When I answer them, you have compelled me to think for myself. When you ask good questions, you compel me […]

The Onion Model of Resistance is a model I developed initially to describe resistance to change. I subsequently generalised it to cover handling: resistance to ideas in a presentation sales objections resistance in a learning environment resistance to engagement Full details are in the Handling Resistance Pocketbook. I recently had a couple of articles published by […]

Yesterday, I posted the first part of an article published in the September 2011 issue of Training Journal. I describe how I developed the Onion Model that is at the centre of The Handling Resistance Pocketbook. Here is Part 2 of that article. From one Model to many It was around 2004 when a client […]

In the September 2011 issue of Training Journal, I describe how I developed the Onion Model that is at the centre of The Handling Resistance Pocketbook. Here is that article. Models are the way that human beings understand our world, and everything we experience. We are constantly building models to explain what we observe, or […]

Seth Godin’s tremendous blog is guaranteed to make you think more often than not. �And he manages to put out one a day, seven days a week: wow! Yesterday, he posted “The warning signs of defending the status quo” He sets out thirteen ways people typically react when confronted with change. Here’s an exercise: how […]

This month’s edition of Training Journal focuses on the topic of “engagement”, with seven feature articles dedicated to the topic. I really like what the new�editor, Elizabeth Eyre, has done in theming each issue. �The quality of the articles these days is excellent, so�I was honoured that Elizabeth asked me to contribute. Handling Resistance My […]

In yesterday’s post, Part 1, we started looking at resistance to engagement, by looking at the basics of the onion model and then peeling the first layer: “I don’t understand why you want me to engage with you.” In this second part, we complete our analysis. �I don�t understand how to engage with you� The […]

People want to be engaged.� They want to be treated fairly, to be consulted about what is happening, and to feel valued and supported.� Yet employee engagement initiatives often meet with scepticism, resistance and even hostility.� Why is this?� Can we understand the source of the resistance and build on this understanding to create positive […]

This month’s edition of Training Journal is focused on the topic of “engagement”, seven feature articles dedicated to the topic. I was honoured to be asked by the editor, Elizabeth Eyre, to contribute. �My article “Resistance to Engagement”�builds on the onion model to discuss why people sometimes resist such an obviously “good thing”. Training Journal […]

Mike’s first law of change: ‘Resistance is inevitable’ There’s no getting around it, so all you can do is to embrace it, and engage with your resisters. But how can you do so positively, and increase your chances of a successful transition? That’s the reason I developed my Onion Model of Resistance, which I started […]

Next week, on 6 April, I will be speaking at the Annual CIPD HRD Exhibition. Let’s just get the Acronyms out of the way If you don’t know them: CIPD: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development – the UK professional body for Human Resources (HR) officers HRD: �Human Resource Development – training, mentoring, coaching, organisational […]

Here is my first video blog. �It’s about resistance to sales, and I hope you will like it. The Onion Model My Onion Model is at the core of Handling Resistance. �It sets out the layers of resistance we encounter � whether to our ideas, to change, or to our sales proposals.� In the video, […]

You will rarely have the opportunity to make a case for something that is so self-evidently right, that nobody could doubt it.� We don�t need to make the case for these things.� Usually, in� the real world, there are counter-arguments. And when there are, your best bet is to tackle them up front.� If what […]

The core of The Handling Resistance Pocketbook is �The Onion Model�. Indeed, one of the drivers for writing it was to put my �onion model of resistance� into the wider world.� I originally developed this in the context of resistance to change and used it in training and facilitation sessions for the last eight years.� […]

Black-belt Resistance techniques?� Find out for yourself. I am working on a new shorter keynote talk based on The Handling Resistance Pocketbook, because the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) in the UK has invited me to present a 45 minute session in the �Learning Arena� of their spring Human Resource Development (HRD) conference […]

Shift happens, things change.� I took a look at the final proofs for Handling Resistance Pocketbook on Friday.� They are looking great, with Phil�s witty illustrations now fully drawn.� I did, however realise that the contents list has shifted a little from the listing in my 7 April Blog.� So here is a more up-to-date […]

One of the principal causes of resistance is not what you communicate, nor even how you communicate it.� The problem is in who communicates the message in the first place. Don�t Shoot the Messenger The expression �don�t shoot the messenger� implies that the messenger is innocent of all responsibility for the content of the message.� […]

People resist learning for lots of reasons, but one thing is likely to exacerbate the effect more than anything else: how the teacher, trainer, mentor or facilitator handles their resistance. Familiar challenges As a speaker, trainer and facilitator, there are many challenges I have had to deal with.� Here are three I have heard many […]

As you will see from the new header to this blog, the first draft of Phil’s cover for my book has arrived and I am very happy with it. Phil Hailstone If you visit Amazon, you’ll see Phil Hailstone credited on all of the Management Pocketbooks – Phil is the artist that turns authors’ scratched […]