Let’s be honest about the job title.
If you re “head of innovation”, leading a corporate innovation strategy or a major transformation project, you’ve a target on your back.
We have all been in that meeting. You present a vision for the future that seems obvious, exciting, and necessary. The heads of Sales, Operations, and Compliance nod politely. They agree with the data. They smile at the timeline.
But deep down, you feel a heaviness in the room. You walk out sensing that despite the polite nods, nothing is actually going to change.
It is easy to feel frustrated in that moment. It is easy to label our colleagues as “blockers,” “dinosaurs,” or “political players.”
But if we look closer, what we are experiencing isn’t malice. It is a fundamental human reaction to uncertainty—one that was mapped out 500 years ago by Niccolò Machiavelli.
The Human Cost of “New”
In The Prince (1513), Machiavelli wrote about power as well giving valuable insight on psychology. He offered a compassionate (if brutal) explanation for why your project feels so heavy to lift:
“The innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and only cautious backers in those who may do well under the new.”
When we read this through the lens of empathy, the dynamic shifts. We stop seeing “enemies” and start seeing human needs.
The Old Order and the need for Safety
Your colleagues in Sales or Operations aren’t fighting you. They are fighting to protect their needs: security, mastery, and predictability.
- They have spent years optimizing the current system.
- Their mortgages and bonuses rely on that system working perfectly today.
- The conflict: When we introduce “innovation,” they don’t hear “progress.” They hear “risk.” They hear a threat to their stability.
The New Order and the need for Possibility
Your supporters—often the CEO or early adopters—connect with the need for growth and future relevance.
- The conflict: Their support is often “cautious” because the benefit is still hypothetical. They cannot rely on it yet.
The Empathy Gap
Here is the tragedy: We are asking our colleagues to trade their concrete safety for a theoretical possibility.
Psychologically, the fear of losing what we have is twice as powerful as the hope of gaining something new. When we push our ideas harder (“selling the dream”), we unintentionally threaten their safety even more.
We don’t need better slides. We don’t need better financial projections (a trap I explain in How to Decide on Strategic Projects: Why ROI Is Not Enough).
We need to restore their sense of safety.
The Solution to Your Corporate Innovation Strategy: The “Sabotage Audit”
To move forward, we must shift from convincing to understanding.
I use a tool called The Sabotage Audit. The name sounds aggressive, but the purpose is deeply empathetic. It is about bringing the unspoken fears into the light so we can care for them.
Step 1: Map the Needs
Start by grabbing a whiteboard and drawing a simple T-chart. On the left side, list the “Pull” of the project—the growth, speed, and relevance it promises. But then, focus your attention entirely on the right side. This is where you map the “Threat.” What deep human needs does this project endanger for your stakeholders?
Step 2: Diagnose the Hidden Fears
When people resist, they rarely say “I am scared.” They say “It’s too expensive” or “We need more analysis.” To find the real issue, you need to listen for the internal monologue behind the objection. Look for these four specific triggers.
Look for the threat to Competence. This is often subtle. When an “Innovation Team” walks in with a better way to do things, it carries an implicit accusation: “If this was so obvious, why didn’t you do it years ago?” Your colleagues aren’t just afraid of learning a new tool; they are offended. Their internal monologue is: “We are the experts here. We should be the ones doing this. Who are these guys to tell us how to run our business?” They resist the project to prove that they didn’t need your help.
Look for the threat to Autonomy. Consider a Regional Director who is used to running their own P&L. If your innovation introduces a “Centralized Data Lake,” you are taking that control away. They might argue about “data privacy,” but their real thought is: “Why do I have to ask headquarters for permission to see my own numbers?” Their resistance isn’t about the software; it is about a loss of ownership.
Look for the threat to Certainty. The Sales team knows exactly how to hit their bonus with the current product. Asking them to switch focus feels like asking them to gamble with their mortgage payments. Their internal fear is rational: “I know I can hit my target with the old product. If this new launch has bugs, I miss my bonus.” They don’t need projection charts; they need a safety net.
Look for the threat to Status. This is about territory. In every company, certain departments “own” certain problems. If you solve a Logistics problem but you sit in the Innovation Department, you are trespassing. The Logistics VP is thinking: “This is my territory. If I let them launch this, I lose my standing as the leader of this function.” They fear becoming irrelevant. They need to be the heroes of the launch, not the spectators.
Step 3: The Offer of Safety
Most innovators spend all their energy making the “Pull” on the left side bigger. They try to sell the dream harder. I suggest you choose a different path.
Focus 100% of your energy on caring for the fears on the right side. Ask yourself the hard questions: If the Sales Director is afraid of losing his bonus during the dip, how can you structure the project to meet his need for financial security? If the IT team is afraid of looking bad with new tech, how can you meet their need for training and support before the launch?
When you meet the need for safety, the resistance usually evolves into alignment.
Innovation isn’t just about technology. It is an act of empathy. With customer and with internal teams.
- Shift Your View: Your colleagues aren’t “enemies.” They are people protecting their security.
- Acknowledge the Fear: Validate that the “New Order” is scary. It is normal to be a “Cautious Backer.”
- Run the Sabotage Audit: Identify who feels unsafe, and use your creativity to build a bridge for them.
When we make it safe for others to lose the old way, they become free to embrace the new one.
P.S. Mastering this political game is hard to do alone.
I occasionally host a closed-door “Political Strategy for Innovators” worksgroups where we discuss the Anti-Sabotage Strategies you can use in your company.
I keep these cohorts small to ensure we can discuss sensitive internal challenges openly. Reach out if you want to be the first to know when the next round opens.
