“People don’t resist change. They resist being changed.” — Kurt Lewin
I recently facilitated a pilot of Teamvine, our multiplayer digital experiential learning platform, for a hybrid team. Here’s the interesting bit:
On this rare occasion, they were all in the same room — playing on their own devices.
At the end, I asked for feedback. The teams Director, a big fan of the analogue version of this game, was thrilled. But two team members were not impressed — in fact, they hated it. They described it as “sensory overload.”
At first, I was rattled. I’m the creator, after all. But then it hit me:
That’s the magic of Teamvine.
Why We’re Not Here to Please Everyone
Teamvine isn’t built to make everyone comfy by playing games
It’s not entertainment but perhaps I could claim it’s “edutainment”!
Truly our games are what I call business mirrors.
They surface the very dynamics teams wrestle with every day:
- Competing priorities
- Constant change
- Information overload
- Friction between speed and clarity
When those two participants said they were overwhelmed, they handed us a gift: insight into how they experience complexity at work.
And here’s where it gets even better:
Teamvine doesn’t just amplify experience — it amplifies the conversations, learning, and insights that come after.
It’s not just about what happens in the game.
It’s about what you can do with the experience after.
The Change Equation at Play
You may know the Change Equation:
D × V × F > R
- Dissatisfaction with the current state
- A clear Vision for something better
- First steps forward
- All stronger than Resistance
Those two participants? They gave us dissatisfaction on a silver platter.
That’s the door a great facilitator or leader steps through:
- “Tell me more about what contributed to that feeling of overload?”
- “Where else do you feel this at work?”
- “What might you try differently next time?”
Without discomfort, you don’t get growth — just polite smiles and no change.
The Four Stages of Learning (and Why Friction Matters)
Learning goes like this:
- We don’t know what we don’t know.
- We realize we’re missing something (hello discomfort!!!).
- We practice and get a little better, maybe even competent.
- It becomes second nature.
Discomfort lives at stage 2 — and it’s essential.
That’s where unlearning begins, and where the seeds of real change get planted.
Reframing Resistance
In The Challenger Sale developed by Matthew Dixon, and Brent Adamson they talk about the reframe — helping people see their challenge in a new light.
As a leader, you can do the same:
- “What if this overload is a window into how you operate under pressure?”
- “What could you learn about yourself here?”
That’s how resistance turns into resilience.
Patience: The Secret Ingredient
Steve Jobs once said, “I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”
Leadership is no different.
It takes patience to hold space for discomfort without rushing to fix it. That’s where the gold is.
The Bigger Picture: Engagement and the Future of Leadership
Gallup’s latest research tells us global engagement is around 20%. The World Economic Forum says tomorrow’s leaders will need:
- Emotional intelligence
- Resilience
- Cognitive flexibility
These aren’t skills you can pick up from a slide deck.
They come from practice — from experiencing challenge, reflecting, and recalibrating.
That’s what Teamvine does.
It amplifies experience and the learning that follows.
Final Thought
Next time you hear someone say, “I hated that — it was too much,”
don’t shut it down.
Lean in.
That’s the moment when real growth becomes possible.
✅ Curious how Teamvine can help your hybrid or remote team turn resistance into resilience?
