Name the loss the adaptive challenge requires

Explicitly acknowledge what people must give up — not just what they will gain.

Why it works

Adaptive work always involves loss: of identity, comfort, status, or a cherished way of operating. Change initiatives that frame only the upside and ignore the loss generate covert resistance, because the loss doesn’t disappear — it drives behavior underground. Naming the loss honors its reality and makes the grief legitimate, which paradoxically lowers resistance.

How to do it

1. Before launching a change, list explicitly what each stakeholder group will lose — not just inconvenience, but genuine loss of value.
2. Name the loss publicly: "I know this means letting go of the way we’ve worked for years, and that’s real."
3. Allow grieving time — don’t rush people from loss to enthusiasm.
4. Separate acknowledging the loss from reversing the decision.

Evidence

Loss aversion research (Kahneman & Tversky) shows that losses are psychologically about twice as impactful as equivalent gains. Change management literature consistently finds that unacknowledged loss is the primary driver of resistance. (observational)

Loss aversion is a robust finding in individual decision-making; its group-level dynamics in organizational change are the more qualitative Heifetz extrapolation.

Sources

• Kahneman & Tversky (1979), prospect theory and loss aversion, Econometrica

Common mistake

Framing every change as purely positive — "this is a great opportunity!" — which signals to people that their sense of loss is invalid, and drives resistance underground.