Gianna's got a name for people like them... As a change process advocate myself, I really appreciated the light hearted humor with the solid experience behind identifying the naysayers to reasonable process design in "Six Sigma Most Wanted List #4 Naysayers". We all have great intentions.. what happens when we give up on one another before the greater outcome? What happens when you find a way to embrace change and resistance to produce a better product?

People who are open and direct naysayers are easier to deal with than the quietly agree and 'secretly' undermine progress behind the scenes.. The cost of managing these naysayers makes it much more practical to put them in the front of the process with clear roles that play on their strengths, than in the back end submarining progress that would otherwise be showing returns.

"GE" coined the famed 'workout process' which provides tools for communication strategy that fit nicely into the Sigma Process-- many other companies call this "CAP" - Change Acceleration Process or Change Acceptance Process.

In Kitta Reed's book "The Zen or Proposal Writing", she weaves the strong case for considering the naysayers as part of the fabric of your process improvements. She takes this strategy to a new height, suggesting we are actually "relishing rejection, and savoring acceptance". Like most of our trade, this is a practiced art.

Naysayers feel like poison when we forget to recognize the gift to their offering. However with a lightness of being, sufficient facts, and data, the naysayer, can be a vehicle for converting early adopters, and a means to finish with those slower on the bell curve of adoption.

The real gift of a naysayer is:

* You can learn from them.
* You create experience to leverage in another "round".
* You can reuse and improve upon this skill with practice.

The challenge is to not stop at the label. Try the '5 whys' to get through the exercise.

(1) Why is this person a naysayer?
It's just a character fault, they are a jerk.

(2) Why would a jerk care whether this succeeded or failed?
Because they have tried this before and seen it fail. ... and maybe they really do care but don't want the pain again.

(3) Why does this change have to be a painful exercise?
Because it is easier to drive change than to convert them?
Because I don't have time for this nonsense?
Because other people will provide the evidence that this is the right direction.

(4) Why would they favor the present state with all it's limitations over this change?

(5) Why might they add value earlier on in our process, engaged appropriately?