Organizations: Strategic Refusal

Why refusal matters, and some ideas about how to leverage it for a better workplace.

In addition to the many things on my mind these days, I'm thinking about the moment in any organization after a big change has been identified and before that big change is instituted. This moment is what the philosopher Jacques Derrida called "the verge," a moment before a threshold is crossed and transfers of responsibilities and transformations of identity follow.

In a previous issue, I described some strategies that may help leaders to move forward from a big change that has disproportionate effects. I used a recent - though not yet instituted - change in the structure of work in my institution to elaborate these strategies. These strategies are retrospective and facilitate necessary learning before forging ahead; attention to process, the ways process reinforces existing power dynamics and their asymmetrical operation, and the way power moves in the organization's history are each beneficial for figuring out what to do in the wake of a fracture.

In this issue, I'm thinking in the verge, and thinking about those of us who have some seniority because of a combination of experience and time in an organization, and who do not have access to the immediate levers of organizational repair. In spite of this, I think folks positioned in this way have one undervalued - and misunderstood - tool at our disposal: Strategic Refusal.

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