Reports from The Resistance Journal Entry #329
TL;DR: Leaders love to hide behind bumper-sticker slogans like “People hate change” or “We’re like a family here.” They sound smart but shut down feedback. Real resistance isn’t irrational—it’s a response to sloppy planning, empty promises, and chaos dressed up as strategy.
Why your boss’s favorite slogans are killing real conversations at work
Every workplace has them. Leaders armed with slogans, hurling them like hand grenades into meetings. They’re quick, they’re catchy, and they let everyone feel like something important just got said.
Spoiler: it didn’t.
These phrases are the intellectual equivalent of fast food—cheap, filling, and guaranteed to leave you sluggish an hour later.
So, friends, here’s your field guide to spotting bumper-sticker leadership in the wild—and how to resist without losing your mind.
“People Hate Change”
Translation: We don’t want to hear your feedback, so we’ll call it irrational fear instead.
Reality check: People love change when it benefits them. They hate this change because it’s poorly explained, badly timed, and dropped on them like a surprise party planned by sadists.
“We Need a Burning Platform”
Translation: Let’s light everything on fire and hope panic makes people productive.
Reality check: Employees aren’t adrenaline junkies. If your only motivator is fear, you don’t have a strategy—you have a hostage situation.
“Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast”
Translation: We read one line from Drucker and now it’s our personality.
Reality check: Quoting culture doesn’t fix culture. If you actually believed this, you’d be investing in behaviors, not repeating a LinkedIn meme.
“We’re Like a Family Here”
Translation: Please ignore the unpaid overtime and chronic understaffing.
Reality check: Families don’t downsize at the end of Q3 to make the numbers. Call it what it is: a business. Employees are trading labor for pay, not hugs at Thanksgiving.
“We’re Building the Plane While Flying It”
Translation: We skipped planning and are now glorifying chaos as innovation.
Reality check: Nobody wants to be strapped into your half-assembled death trap at 30,000 feet. Planning isn’t cowardice. It’s competence.
“Fail Fast, Fail Often”
Translation: We don’t know what we’re doing, so we’ll glamorize the wreckage.
Reality check: Failure is only noble when you learn something. Otherwise, you’re just expensive performance art.
“We Just Need Better Communication”
Translation: We don’t want to admit the idea is terrible, so let’s blame the PowerPoint.
Reality check: Communication isn’t magic fairy dust. No amount of email blasts can fix broken incentives or a half-baked vision.
Final Thought
Bumper-sticker leadership thrives because it’s easy. Real leadership is hard: it means listening, owning mistakes, and being clear about trade-offs.
Until then, The Resistance will keep calling out these slogans for what they are: corporate air freshener sprayed over the smell of dysfunction.
ChangeGuild: Power to the Practitioner™
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do leaders fall back on bumper-sticker phrases?
Because they’re quick, familiar, and give the illusion of addressing complex issues without having to face uncomfortable feedback or deeper organizational problems.
How can practitioners respond when a leader uses one of these phrases?
Don’t challenge the slogan directly, translate it. Ask clarifying questions, surface underlying issues, and use evidence (employee feedback, data, examples) to shift the conversation to root causes.
Are these slogans always harmful?
Not necessarily. Used sparingly, they can rally people or simplify a message. The danger comes when they replace genuine dialogue or become a substitute for action.
What’s the best way to uncover what’s really behind resistance?
Listen carefully, ask for specifics, and look for patterns in concerns. Often resistance is grounded in workload, unclear priorities, or past failures, not abstract fear of change.
How can organizations avoid bumper-sticker leadership?
Invest in leadership training, emphasize accountability, and create safe spaces for honest feedback. Encourage leaders to replace slogans with stories, examples, and transparent decision-making.
