Is change always good for a business? From a career perspective, many might feel they're politically required to say sure, change is good. Anyone out there remember New Coca-Cola? Now THAT'S a classic (pardon the pun) example of change out-of-step with customer needs and expectations, no matter how right the decision might have seemed on paper.

Bottom line, the success of any change initiative is rooted in the legitimacy of the cause, and grows based on the ability to rally support strong enough to overcome forces resisting the change.

In my pre-TeamsWork Enterprises days, I had two fronts I needed to influence as a business insider: the process champion, and everyone else. It didn't matter, in many cases, how much mutual dissatisfaction and passion for change there might have been across an organization if the process champion didn't agree. Without that side of support, change usually didn’t occur.

These days, as a member of a business consulting firm which specializes in team and organizational effectiveness, clients often come to us after the change is initiated. Finding themselves stuck in neutral (or worse), they'll ask for our take on the situation.

As a people reader, I focus on body language during change discussions: position of arms, eye contact, tightness in shoulders, marked increase or decrease in animation, and other physical clues. The more familiar I become with the players and the organizational culture, the greater the signs I pick up of how receptive an individual might be to the change in question.

Hidden agendas are so common within organizations that it's surprising how frequently this roadblock to change is overlooked. Some obvious indicators are missed deadlines, absence from meetings, and other behaviors related to those not in a mood to work and play well with others.

Traditionally, I've relied on physical clues that there's something going on under the surface (particularly incongruencies like verbal agreement and arms starting to cross at the same time), but have found some of my original assumptions need to be tempered as I become increasingly aware of cultural differences. A perfect example is direct eye contact: I used to find myself untrusting of those who avoided eye contact with me until I came to realize how many cultures consider it rude to make direct eye contact with a superior.

Instead of soliciting a yes or no response to indicate support, I frequently ask the question "Why would this work, and why wouldn't it?" Allowing a safe method to get opinions on the table helps diffuse hidden agendas based on fear in particular.

There are two major categories of change resistance of the dozens out there that I've observed in my career and personal life: exclusion from the planning process, and bad experiences with other change initiatives.

The first is easiest to deal with in a proactive, preventative fashion by involving the person in the change planning process as early as possible. There are some organizations that, as a matter of practice, hide all clues leading to change initiatives until implementation time. I'm not a fan of this approach. Beyond the lost wisdom from those excluded from the process, I've seen more harm than good come from such practices. There's only one situation when "undercover" development and implementation of a change initiative is virtually required outside the domain of security, and that would be in cases where the organizational culture is so toxic that roadblocks and barriers to change would be insurmountable with any advance warning.

The second major category of change resistance, a bad experience with organizational change, requires a bit more personal attention. Acknowledging the person's track record with change, allowing some venting, and addressing "baggage" by covering steps in the process that will overcome the perceived obstacles are all actions that can start the turnaround for the resistant participant.

Personally, I am not immune to change resistance. There's no silver bullet or magic pill to avoid it, but I've found a personal inventory helps. My own symptoms include:

• increased stress levels
• lack of time to devote to the "change tasks"
• difficulty concentrating during discussions related to the change, as well as afterwards
• limited ability to see the big picture
• general feelings of being unsettled beyond the change task
• reduced discussion, planning, and follow-through related to the change
• in extreme cases, hives and other physical indicators

I'm sure there are other signs that colleagues, family, and friends pick up on beyond these. As far as getting past my personal resistance to change, awareness is half the battle, and experience has been a great teacher. To paraphrase Angeles Arrien in her book The Four-Fold Way (1993), I've become more open to outcomes instead of attached to them, and I've gotten better at picking my battles when needed.