[I]n our intervention and training programmes, we talk often about handling much needed but often much maligned Opposition and what it takes to do so skillfully when it is emerging as part of a change effort. Our general rule of thumb is: Go with it. Do not fight it. Better that it is emerging than that it is covert and hidden beneath the surface, doing harm.

In going with it as an interventionist, you are asking people to teach you what you do not know. You are converting Opposing into Moving. I know this sounds simplistic. It is not. This is because the stronger the Opposing, the more inventive you must get in order to transform it from dysfunctional and disabling to functional and enabling.

One’s own behavioural preferences and profile determines how one experiences systemic and systematic Opposition. Genuinely welcoming it rather than deploring or being fearful of it, is the best approach, but that obviously does not come easily for everyone.

Dealing with out and out Opposition is one thing but working with it when it is covert brings another set of challenges. Today, I found an entry in one of my journals in which I was reflecting after a particularly challenging initial phase of intervention in a system that was extremely high in Closed Power. I felt like I had completed a major workout by the end of the first day with them. One of my barometers for how things were going was a senior leader who, for the first part of the day, spent most of the time staring straight ahead with his arms tightly folded and not engaging with anyone, least of all me.

There was so much unvoiced Opposition in the room that to begin with it felt to me like an extremely hostile environment. Little by little however, this began to shift and whilst I covered some of what I had planned before meeting with the team, I ended up putting my session plan down on the floor and instead created plenty of open space for dialogue. The purpose of doing so was to allow the structures that I could see were impacting negatively on the team to emerge and come into the space so that they could be worked on overtly.

During the dialogue, I noticed that the group naturally went into talking about the phenomena of Covert Opposition and Courteous Compliance through the kinds of stories they were sharing. I was able to diagnose the stories in this way because of how they brought the structures into the room themselves and began talking about them – the impact – the consequences – the history that had led to these dysfunctional patterns of behaviour. I was then able to draw out what they were talking about and explain it to them in structural terms as graphically represented here:

In turn, I offered coaching about the different ways in which they could begin to change these structures by ‘simply’ providing the vocal acts that were missing. So, they worked on enabling the Bystand there and then, in the room, and as a result, began to liberate the Oppose almost as if by magic! As a result, they had a direct and first-hand experience of changing the nature of their discourse. The much-needed correction within the team was overt and doing good rather than covert and doing harm in the way it had been doing previously. It was quite a moment!

This early intervention at the beginning of the work with the team set the tone for what would come next. It also provided a vehicle for introducing some core concepts and beginning the process of container building. I was also very clear on not congratulating myself too soon about having really enabled them to change anything in a sustainable way because I knew I needed to keep my feet firmly on the ground about what I was dealing with. These phenomena had taken decades or more to become established and I had a job on my hands to help to enable some durable turnaround.

By the time we left, the senior leader had relaxed his posture and was engaging with his colleagues but I could see that I and the approach I was taking were still under suspicion. This is natural and understandable and I looked forward to working with him by reframing his apparent ‘resistance’ into a new reality, which was that he was probably the team’s best Opposer with a history of not being heard.