Engaging Resistance: How Ordinary People Successfully Champion Change offers an empirically based explanation that expands our understanding about the nature of resistance to organizational change and the effects of champion behavior. The text presents a new model describing how resistance occurs over time and details what change proponents can do throughout three engagement periods to effectively work with hesitant colleagues.
The book's findings are illuminated by examples of six different resistance cases, embedded in the transformation sagas of two real-world organizations. A fundamental premise of this work is that resistance should not be something to avoid or squash as people work to change their organizations. In fact, resistance can be viewed as a natural, healthy part of an organic process. When engaged properly, resisters can help to improve change efforts and strengthen an organization's overall transformation.
About the author
Aaron D. Anderson is Director of the Executive MBA Program at San Francisco State University, where he teaches Organizational Behavior, Design, and Change.
"Engaging Resistance meaningfully builds an emergent theory in an engaging style. Anderson grounds his framework well, illustrating how two institutions of higher education overcome resistance to change. The stories of these institutions include exemplary detail, so that students can easily transfer the lessons-learned to other organizational settings. This book makes a welcome addition to the reading list for my Strategies for Institutional Change course."
—Sharon F. Rallis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, author of Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research and Leading with Inquiry and Action: How Principals Improve Teaching and Learning
"In a refreshingly clear voice, Anderson presents powerful ideas on transformational change and resistance in an easy-to-understand format. Engaging Resistance serves as a template that may be used by change agents anywhere who are committed to making a positive difference in for profit, non-profit, and governmental settings."
—Jane C. Edmonds, Senior Fellow, Northeastern University College of Professional Studies