Written on the 5th of November 2008 by Catherine Palin-Brinkworth
A few years ago I was given a useful definition of insanity: “Doing what you did yesterday and expecting a different outcome.”
Uh huh. I agree – it’s crazy! Yet so often we want improved skills and enhanced performance – but we fail to create the will to change.
Every single development will require change. The C word. Why on earth do we resist it so?
Check how many of these could be true for you. Or someone you know, or work with…….
1.We resist change because it hurts. Yes, it really does. There is an inbuilt part of my brain, and yours, and everyone else’s, which is absolutely dedicated to preserving homeostasis. Anything different (particularly exercise, in my experience) can cause various degrees of pain – just because it is not familiar, comfortable, relaxed and easy. This clever reptilian brain of ours is trying to keep us stable, even and same - to protect us from imbalance. It hasn’t realized we’re in the 21st century and if we DON’T change we’ll die.
2.We resist change because it’s usually somebody else’s idea. Either we’ve read that we should be doing something differently, or someone has told us so. Most other people seem to feel they know what’s good for us, better than we do, right? So almost all change or improvement initiatives are initially inspired by an external source. The question is – do we share the same desire for us to be different? Do we really agree that this change is good for us? Or are we simply going along with it.
3.Here’s another thought. Maybe if I do change, other people in my life might become uncomfortable. Because they know me as I am, and they are resisting change, so if I embrace it, I may not be able to embrace them any more. Or they may not embrace me. That could be very lonely. I may be rejected.
4.Significant change actually shakes my self-concept to the core. I form my identity, my worldview, my core belief system which drives all my responses behaviours and actions, quite early in my life. It creates my orientation. If anything happens to alter that orientation, I become a displaced person. Even if it’s only momentary, it requires an adjustment on my part. That’s hard work. If I have to do it too often, I can become quite disoriented and dysfunctional. After all, how can I possibly perform at my peak if I don’t know who I am?
5.And quite frankly, I like things just the way they are. Perhaps they’re not perfect, but they’re OK. And if we change things, they could be worse! Better the devil you know……..
Take a moment to check in:
Have you ever wanted conditions in your life/work/family to change?
Have you ever owned any of the above resistances?
Have you ever observed them in others around you?
They’re common. They’re almost universal. They will get in the way of just about every improvement you want to implement in your business environment or in your personal life.
And when it comes to changing behaviour through training, whether on the job, in a classroom, conference or workshop, you’ll strike them even more strongly.
As founder and now director of a successful national training organization, Progress Training Systems, I’ve encountered these resistances every time I have worked with a group.
We’ve proven, both with own experience and through extensive research, that a number of Conditions are necessary in order to manage them.
People would far rather learn from each other than from a stranger with apparent theory. We know we need to build a great deal of this into our programs, to tap into the group wisdom, and to ensure the behavioural change we are encouraging is valid, realistic and owned by the group.
On the Job Learning
Not role plays, but real plays. Using the new systems and strategies, repeating the drill and reporting back. Ensuring that the work is useful and functional, and if not, that it can be modified to suit.
Management Involvement
Not just endorsement, but actual involvement, where managers, team leaders or supervisors drive the behavioural change through ongoing meeting facilitation, coaching, performance feedback and appraisal. Where the new behaviours are modeled, rewarded and continually reinforced.
Build the vision. Get it strong, big, bright, clear, moving and real. Discuss all the positive effects. Accept
the challenges and obstacles. Ensure there is 100% ownership and commitment to the change.
Establish the power.None of us is a powerless victim of our world. We can stay and grow, or we can run and hide. We can choose to make a difference and we can choose to be different. Reward your team for accountability and response-ability in learning and change.
Select a measurable action. All behavioural change requires effort. Selecting the smallest measurable step can make it a little easier and create impetus. The whole process may not always be clear and we need to feel confident with each step knowing where we are heading. Positive feedback will drive us forward.
Take a step. With personal courage and genuine encouragement, acknowledging any risks and discomforts, ensuring ensuring there’s a safety net provided. Notice the stretch, the growth.
Then check the results with the vision. And the next step is of course to build the new vision.
Here’s a final challenge in leading behavioural change. Perhaps the greatest one. Check out the beliefs of everyone involved. Robert Fritz, author of ‘The Path of Least Resistance’, shows graphically how a negative belief will inevitably sabotage any attempt to move out of the current situation. The resulting Structural Conflict will make any improvement impossible, without awareness, open acknowledgement and the chance to shape a managing strategy.
Success strategies for behavioural change are simple.
You know what you want to achieve. You believe you can achieve it, with sufficient commitment and effort, and the fact that you haven’t achieved it yet is temporary. You work out how to get it. You undertake learning or training, to support you with new knowledge, skills and attitudes. You take action, with confidence that you will achieve your outcome. And you do.
Catherine Palin-Brinkworth, M.AppSci (Social Ecology) is an international business speaker, consultant and facilitator, with a proven ability to bring out the best in people, effecting significant change in teams and their performance. Her skills are well utilized for leadership development, change management and sales performance. For availability, contact us or visit www.catherinepalinbrinkworth.com
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