Resistance Is Feedback, Not Defiance

“People are resistant to change.”

That sentence gets thrown around a lot — usually right before someone stops listening.

Because labeling resistance as defiance feels convenient. It lets us conclude:

• they’re difficult

• they’re stubborn

• they just don’t like change

And then we move on.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: Most resistance isn’t opposition. It’s information.

People push back when:

• they don’t understand the why

• they don’t trust the timing

• they feel excluded from decisions that affect them

• they’re afraid of looking incompetent

• they think the change will make their job harder

None of that is irrational.

Resistance is often the first visible signal that something important was missed:

• context

• communication

• clarity

• safety

When resistance is ignored or dismissed, it doesn’t go away. It just mutates.

It becomes:

• quiet non-adoption

• “temporary” workarounds

• passive compliance

• shadow systems

• disengagement

The people didn’t fail the change. The change failed to account for the people.

If you treat resistance like defiance, you fight it. If you treat it like feedback, you fix what’s broken.

And one of those approaches is a lot cheaper, can you guess which one?