I decided to blog this thought train instead of writing a myriad tweets, if it feels relevant please share/comment, although it is response to @DedicatedPeeler and @moderndayman18
As I was driving I thought about how the best way to *challenge* entrenched thinking would look: the first thing that is needed in my view is a positive relationship with the person/s whose thinking you wish to challenge. This is slightly easier on a one to one or small group level than in an organisation. If challenged in a *wrong* way where defense mechanisms kick in, the entrenched thought gets buried deeper into the persons psyche and is harder to root out. They may outwardly follow the new way but with the thinking unchanged the genetic code of the organisation stays the same and anything that challenges the way the code is connected gets attacked by the organisation’s white blood cells.
I think about organisations as bodies… positive change and entrenched thinking as viruses. The quickest way to change an organisation is to affect it’s genetic code: so that thinking whether positive or negative is bonded to the cells and is there for generations.
If entrenched thinking is likened to cancer in this symbolic way it helps to understand how pervasive it can be and how harmful attempts to remove it can be (surgery or chemotherapy) although the result is a body without cancer it is not always as healthy as it could be…
IF, there are good relational bonds and the members of the organisation feel valued and not ostracised for their beliefs they are more likely to be open to change. This positivity infects the organisation as a whole and a new, stronger, healthier genetic code is embedded by the contact of one changed thinker positively engaging with another colleague and the results snowball.
The biggest danger that I can see is that negative changes, due to poor relational challenge are more virulent.
I hope this helps explain my thoughts 🙂
Namasté Jules
Thoughts of a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing 
Useful observations, and the ‘cancer removal’ analogy is succinct Jules.
As with my work in the field of substance misuse and addictive behaviours; the overall long-term efficacy of challenging / changing behaviours is reliant upon nurture and support.
Effective change comes from learning within a supportive cultural environment. The ‘secret’ is about nurturing and empowering people; so they can see the ‘reason(s)’ for the change(s) that they (we) aspire to.
Thanks Dave, I’ve not blogged for some time now, good to see some musings are still relevant 😊