Greetings!
Why We Resist Those Who Resist Change
Why Hawks Win by Daniel Kahneman and Jonathan
Renshon (Foreign Policy Jan/Feb 2007) suggests that
leaders may get a broad spectrum of advice when
there is tension and conflict, but that they have a
natural bias toward listening only to those who give
them “hawkish” advice. In other words, they value
this advice over those who offer more peaceful
or “dovish” solutions.
This psychological bias can have a huge negative
impact on our ability to lead change effectively.
And why is that, I hear you ask? Well, for starters,
when people resist us there is a natural human
reaction to think that they are wrong — and that we
can beat them. Our biases cause us to make wrong
estimates about how serious this resistance is or how
powerful the potential opposition is. In fact, we
would rather keep in the game – roll the dice – even
when the odds are against us, than take a more-
certain win that might yield less.
If this sounds interesting, I wrote two blog entries
that explore this more fully. I invite you to visit my
blog and please make commets and add to the
conversation. Cha
nge Management News.
Also, I highly recommend the article in Foregin Policy.
You can find it online. (After the glitches when I tried
to give you a link in my last newsletter, I suggest
that you simply type "Daniel Kahneman Foreign Policy
2007" into Google. That should do the trick.)
Thanks.
Many of you responded to my questions about tips
and tools you'd liketo see me offer. You gave me
enough ideas to last me for at least a year. But, of
course, I am always open to hearing more
suggestions whenever you've got them.
Visit our web site
Sincerely,
Rick Maurer
Maurer & Associates
phone:
703-525-7074
