Hello all! We are in a series called What does improv have to do with change management? In this series, I’m sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned so far from improv class that have direct application to my work as a change management practitioner. Last week’s post was Be in the present moment and listen instead of planning your response. This week’s lesson is….

Conflict can happen, own it and move forward

While my instructor takes a “we’re in this together” approach to improv, he’s quick to point out that conflict in a scene is perfectly fine and can help build a good scene. He has also pointed out, though, that what often happens is that conflict ends up being a back and forth argument or disagreement that just escalates. This ends up derailing the scene and making it uninteresting for the audience.

His advice to remedy this is for one person in the scene, after a little back and forth, to own it/agree with the other person. This allows the people in the scene to get back to being a team, looking out for each other’s best interest, and building a quality scene together.

Owning the conflict allows people to get back to being a team, looking out for each other’s best interest, and building a quality scene together.

In the change world, this idea makes me think of interacting with people we may label as “resistant” (even labeling someone this way sets up a conflict, doesn’t it?). Often, we think we need to convince people that it’s going to be better than they think it will be, give them more and more information to tell them why the change is happening, how it will benefit them, how it will hurt them if they don’t change, basically get them to stop resisting.

Owning the conflict and moving forward might sound like “you’re right”:

• You’re right, there’s a chance this might not go as well as planned.
• You’re right, it’s possible this solution might cause some short term challenges.
• You’re right, that worst case scenario might happen.

Notice how these responses take the steam and tension out of the interaction and help diffuse the conflict. Now you’re back to being a team, looking out for each other’s best interest, and building a successful tomorrow together. This also allows you to take the conversation on more curious, constructive directions, such as:

• Are you comfortable sharing more about how/why this change concerns you?
• What are some actions we could take to help address your concerns and help this change be successful?
• Are there things we could do to help alleviate, as much as possible, the short term challenges.

Closing thoughts

I want to hear from you! Have you found yourself getting stuck in conflict during a change initiative? How did this impact the project? What have you done to get past conflict?

Please post your thoughts and comments below. Let’s help each other become the best change management practitioners and enthusiasts we can be!

Thank you for reading. Until next time, take care and keep up the good work!

Mike