Change Management ⏱ 2–3 hours 👥 CN change practitioner. 6–10 people from the affected population. Ideally includes known resisters. No programme sponsors in the room.
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How To — Change Management

The Resistance Diagnostic.

How to run a structured session that surfaces real objections

Purpose

To surface the real objections to the change — not the stated ones — before communications go out. To understand what people are being asked to give up. To design the change programme around the actual resistance rather than the assumed resistance.

The CN approach
Resistance to change is almost always rational from the perspective of the person resisting. They are protecting something — status, certainty, capability, relationships. The diagnostic session is designed to surface what that is, specifically, before the programme team designs around an assumed resistance that does not match the real one. The most common mistake is treating resistance as a communications problem. The resistance diagnostic reveals whether it is a design problem, a trust problem, a capability problem, or something else entirely.
Quick Reference — One Pager
Before you start
  • ▸Deliberately include people known to have concerns — do not stack the room with supporters
  • ▸Frame the session as "helping us design the programme" — not "addressing concerns"
  • ▸Brief participants: their input will shape the programme design, not be reported to the sponsor
  • ▸Prepare specific prompts from discovery interview themes
  • ▸Have a clear plan for what happens with the output — and tell participants what it is
Room / setup
  • ▸Round table or horseshoe — equality of voice is the point
  • ▸No observers. No recording.
  • ▸Anonymous written input before verbal discussion
  • ▸Plenty of time — do not rush the uncomfortable moments
  • ▸Facilitator only, no co-facilitator who might be seen as a reporter
Key questions

"What is this change asking you to give up?"

"What would have to be true for you to feel confident about this?"

"What has not been said in any official communication that needs to be said?"

"What would make this fail — from where you sit?"

"What would change your mind about this — genuinely, not theoretically?"

Watch outs
⚠Participants performing positivity because they think it is safer
⚠One voice dominating — use written input first to equalise
⚠Confusing stated objection with real objection — probe until you reach the real one
⚠Trying to answer the concerns in the session — listen first, respond later
⚠Taking the findings back to the sponsor before designing what to do with them
Full Facilitator Guide in the CN Portal

Step by step. What to do when it goes wrong.

The full guide covers the complete session methodology, how to build and sequence the activities, what the outputs mean and how to use them, and specifically what to do when the session goes in a direction you did not expect.

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