Caught between departure and resistance

I have been working as an innovation coach for over ten years and as a mediator for several years. In innovation processes, I accompany teams in both roles through lively and sometimes exhausting phases. On the one hand, they experience unexpected creativity and creative power, but on the other hand, these processes are often accompanied by frustration and conflict. Time and again, I have observed how the energy inherent in such processes encounters counterforces within the organisation – and fizzles out. In the early years, this dynamic often left me feeling helpless.

Today, this tension is becoming even more pronounced: the world is changing faster than many structures can keep up with – new technologies, changing expectations, social pressure. Renewal is needed everywhere, but it is rarely easy.

For one side, this seems like „resistance from those unwilling to change“; for the other, it seems like a questioning of what has proven itself – a disruption of familiar routines and structures.

Renewal requires disruption, but...

From my work with conflict and group dynamics, I now understand that renewal requires irritation and disruption – but as a complementary quality, not as a substitute for routine and stability, which often characterise successful organisations.

Kurt Lewin, pioneer of organisational development, impressively described the interaction of both qualities in his „Model of Change“: Unfreeze – Move – Refreeze. First, existing patterns are broken down through irritation, then new ones are tried out and reinforced, and finally new, „better“ processes are stabilised again. Stability and disruption are therefore not opposites, but rather opponents in a cyclical dance.

It's the human, stupid – the solution lies with people

So it's all about balance. But how can this be achieved in organisations?
In my view, this is not primarily achieved through finely tuned strategy papers, but rather through the people who embody these two forces. On the one hand, there is the need for order and control; on the other, the urge to play, experiment and be curious.
The question of our time is: How can organisations encourage people to incorporate the latter into their work in particular?

Schulz von Thun describes the complementary interplay of such qualities in his „value square“. Example: Structured and creative people complement each other wonderfully in balance. Some create the framework in which new things can emerge, while others fill this framework with ideas and vitality. It becomes tragic when people with both attitudes become estranged from each other or even fight each other – when the respective sides reinforce each other and tip over into „exaggeration“ (as he calls it): structure then becomes a control frenzy, creativity becomes chaos.
This happens especially when we are under stress or facing intense pressure to change – in such moments, we tend to fall back into our familiar response patterns. I have observed this dynamic in many teams: during innovation and transformation processes, polarised camps suddenly find themselves facing off against each other.

Through the hardening – towards integration

According to Schulz von Thun, polarisation is actually an important process in a dispute. A „depolarised“ organisation or society would be rigid and unmotivated. Polarisation brings tensions and contradictions to the surface, making them visible – and only then can they be dealt with in depth and integrated. It is therefore a necessary intermediate step in joint development.
However, if people in a group cannot find a way to recognise the „good core“ in each other's positions, they remain stuck in rigidity. Then tension turns into a struggle for morality, identity and belonging. In such an atmosphere, it becomes increasingly difficult to argue hard yet respectfully about change – and it makes it harder for organisations (like societies) to find common ground that is supported by the majority.
Organisations therefore need spaces and shared experiences of successful dialogue in which the destructive power of polarisation can be overcome. Spaces in which it is recognised that stability and dynamism are part of the natural cycle of development – and that representatives of both qualities deserve sincere appreciation.
This is a first but crucial step towards igniting the vibrant energy of renewal that we so urgently need today.