Like it or not, power impacts life at work. And where there's power, there's resistance - two forces wrestling with each other throughout the organisation, all of the time. This struggle plays out in many forms, but we focus on how those in power make decisions - sometimes poorly, the power structures that influence behaviour, and how those affected cope.
Whether it's changing a culture that's getting in the way of strategy, coping with "irrational" decision-making, or speaking up - relationships between power and resistance influence life and outcomes at work.
It's not that power is bad, and resistance is good, though some ideologues would have you think so. To achieve anything significant requires power, so power can be good. But power left unchecked can be destructive, and so resistance to power is vital for good organisational outcomes. On the other hand, too much resistance can also be damaging. Getting the balance right between power and resistance in any given situation is a pragmatic rather than ideological issue.
So we ask – how can power or resistance be used for the greater good in this situation? How you answer that question is key to good organisational performance.
