We are trying to build our ten-year target and three-year picture with you, but our team keeps getting bogged down in current operational details. How do you break this resistance?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic manifestation of resistance, which is the internal psychological force that fights against big dreams and long-term vision. It is much easier and safer for your mind to focus on today's fires than to confront the uncertainty of a ten-year future. When we build your V/TO, my job as your facilitator is to recognize this resistance and break through it. We do this by treating the strategic planning portion of our session as an isolated environment. I will not allow the team to introduce current tactical issues into a long-term strategic discussion. If an operational problem arises during vision building, we immediately drop it into our Issues List to be solved later. We frame the exercise around your core values and your high-level direction, not the immediate steps of how we get there. I will challenge the team to engage in abstract conceptualization, pushing you to define the destination before you worry about the vehicle. We look for spontaneous, top-of-mind reactions from your leaders to capture their true vision, bypassing their analytical hesitation. By acknowledging that resistance is a natural reaction to a big vision, we can push through the discomfort and align on a bold, clear direction for your company.