Understanding your organization’s immune system
How to Work With And Not Against Your Company’s Defenses
Several years ago, I developed a mild food allergy. My body began reacting to fruits I’d eaten safely for decades. My doctor explained this was Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS), where the immune system mistakenly identifies harmless proteins as threats.
It struck me how similar this is to how organizations react to change. Well-intentioned defenses designed to protect the company can sometimes overreact to harmless, or even beneficial, new ideas.
Rather than fighting these mechanisms, the most effective leaders learn to work with their organization’s immune response. Here’s how.
3 Common Defense Mechanisms (And How to Navigate Them)
The caution response
What’s happening: Middle managers flag potential risks in newly proposed initiatives
Intent behind: Protecting the company from truly damaging moves
Constructive approach:
Acknowledge valid concerns first
Propose small-scale tests to demonstrate safety
Example: When introducing a new tool, we ran a 30-day pilot with one team and shared measurable security results
The process response
What’s happening: Additional checks and approvals are needed to implement (new) changes
Intent behind: Maintaining quality and coordination. Controlling excessive overhead that comes with new changes.
Constructive approach:
Distinguish between necessary and redundant controls
Be extra critical with your proposed changes and re-evaluate/validate if these are needed at all
By re-evaluating your approach, make sure you reduce complexity of its implementation and lower the risk of it failing
The Culture Response
What’s happening: New ways of working face cultural resistance
Intent behind: Preserving what makes the company unique and what keeps people from being comfortable (change)
Constructive approach:
Connect changes to existing values
Identify cultural ambassadors to champion adoption
When introducing agile methods, we framed them as “living our value of continuous improvement” rather than replacing how we worked
Building Organizational Tolerance
Just as allergy sufferers can gradually increase tolerance through controlled exposure, organizations can become more adaptable:
Start Small
Begin with low-risk experiments to demonstrate benefits
Measure and Share
Collect data on what works to address legitimate concerns
Celebrate Adaptability
Recognize teams that successfully navigate change
A Balanced Perspective
Organizational defenses exist for good reason, and, the key is helping them evolve alongside business needs. By understanding these mechanisms and working with them constructively, we can:
Maintain necessary protections
Reduce unnecessary friction
Create space for meaningful innovation
Reflection: Where has your organization successfully adapted its defenses to support positive change?
🔗 Share this with leaders and people navigating organizational change!