Push Back
When Lou Gerstner first took over IBM, he encountered internal
“pushback,” which involved traditional, longtime IBMers essentially
telling Gerstner why something he wanted to do would not
work. Pushback comprised not so much acts of defiance, but more
of an attitude of “Look, we’ve been here a long time, and we know
what works and what doesn’t, and what you are proposing will not
work.” The reality was that Gerstner was attempting not the incremental
moves that had been tried before, but steps that would lead
to total culture and business transformation inside the company.
That pushback era was at the height of the buildup and ride
through the Internet boom time, when Gerstner wanted to transform
the company into a pervasive e-business enabler, which he
ultimately did, despite the pushback.
We are now in a new time where pushing back is required for you
to stay flexible enough to get done what you must and still have any
sense of sanity around the office. With everyone required to do
more with less, tough management calls for serious pushing back
and getting others to rethink what they are demanding of you. The
reason is the change in the business climate today, with work
increasing but staffing lagging behind.