Change Dynamics

The intention to change is never enough. There are limits to one’s willpower and desire to do something that we claim is important. There are so many things that happen between the moment of committing to an action and actually following through on it, leading to all kind of human dynamics. In this chapter, we discuss these occurring dynamics on the following three levels: (1) an intra-individual psychodynamic perspective; (2) a social-interactive group dynamic perspective; and (3) a social systems dynamics perspective. Following these levels in this chapter, we introduce and explore the following: How resistance to change as a scholarly concept has evolved in recent decades. That, for example, ‘resistance’ is not per se a nuisance but may also be a resource and that it is not per se a simple one-way concept but can also be seen as a recursive concept that works for both interventionist as well as the receiver. That the ‘resistance’ of a group can also owe to mostly unconsciousness, dysfunctional group behaviour, which come into play when group members increasingly become blind to their own inhibiting personal and interactive patterns. In this regard we discuss and compare, Argyris’ ‘defensive reasoning’, Janis’ ‘groupthink’ and Harvey’s ‘Abilene paradox’. That the ‘resistance’ of people can also be the result of a paradoxical situation in which they are stuck, or through a paradoxical ‘double bind’ message, a double commitment and/or a delay in a feedback loop.