A few weeks ago, a brave member of a virtual change managers forum that I belong to posted a question about project sabotage. The forum founder and moderator responded that he did not believe in sabotage or use the word, but believed that "people are always doing their best".
This response pushed a button in me. I was outraged that the forum moderator and someone with supposedly 10 years of experience could be so irresponsible as to completely deny the existence of sabotage. I responded as follows.
Sabotage should be a word both org change managers and project managers use because 1) it is a common verb, 2) it exists, and 3) is practiced widely within organizations all the time, at least in North America. Sabotage is real, and it is active resistance, or better yet, pro-active resistance. Recent real-life example: A client project director communicates to other project team members via a channel she knows they cannot access, then uses their non-responsiveness as a reason to have them removed from the project and as evidence that the project is failing. This individual was obviously "not doing her best in this particular circumstance".
To deny that sabotage happens is pure folly, as is not addressing it, ignoring it, or making excuses for it. In other words, If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.... not a swan. I believe that people mean well most of the time and are basically good-at-heart; however, sometimes they do get nasty for whatever reason(s). As change managers it is part of our duty to recognize, document, report, and help address sabotage to protect the client's investment in the project.
I do not think it is going to far to say that ignoring sabotage is unethical and constitutes malpractice for change managers, because if we are not addressing it then we become complicit in it.
What concerns me more is that the denial of sabotage is yet another sign of a strong trend that I have noticed for at least the past 10 years for individuals and entire organizations to simply deny reality. This trend was most evident in the Bush White House, and seems to still be at play in Obama's administration. In my experience and observation "reality denial" is now practiced in all regions, all types of organizations, and at all levels.
Those of us who insist on engaging with reality are frequently ignored, pushed aside, or shunned, but most of all we are the messengers who get shot. As Chris Martenson says in his brilliant Crash Course series, the mark of an adult is the ability to plan and deal with complexity. How can anyone do either if they are not willing to even recognize reality? I think Martenson would say, as many others are saying or have said, that we are a very child-like society. I am hoping that maturity and reality come back into fashion soon, otherwise, Í will never work again.
