A few weeks after announcing a major culture change initiative, Steve, a vice president in a construction firm, conducted a town hall meeting. He started the meeting by answering a few questions previously submitted by his team. When he addressed one of the "negative" questions that asked about a recent setback, Steve admonished the naysayer for being negative (i.e., optimistically challenged).
Six months after that meeting, the manager who relayed this incident to me reported that the change initiative had spiraled downward, and was currently on life-support. No wonder 70% of all change initiatives fail. Instead of interpreting setbacks as opportunities to learn what his team was concerned about, Steve chose to silence the critics. Seldom a wise way to handle resistance.
Contrast Steve’s approach with the inspiring meeting Lisa conducted. She called her team together to discuss the “negative” feedback received in a recent customer survey. Lisa invited her employees to share their comments, questions, and concerns. And they did! They asked difficult and direct questions. Lisa answered each one with honesty, sincerity, and a little levity. She ended the meeting by thanking them for their input. She also reminded them that the team’s response to this challenging customer feedback was going to help them boost customer satisfaction and ridership.
Whenever change is the order of the day, I encourage you to follow Lisa’s wise example. Invite the opposition, naysayers, and skeptics to your meetings. Especially if they are stakeholders in your projects. Don't drive them underground, where they can do real damage. Be open about any setbacks you face. Through your actions, teach others that, “A setback is feedback waiting for meaning.”