Blaming our parents and our upbringing. Blaming things that happened to us. Blaming our circumstances. We see our behavior as a result of outside influences instead of taking control into our own hands. It can be scary but liberating to have this realization and take back the power.
The elephant and the rider. The elephant is our emotional side that goes after instant gratification.
The rider is our logical side that looks out for our future selves. The rider is technically in control, but the elephant is bigger and more powerful than the rider. When the two are not in alignment, it makes change exhausting and difficult. While the rider wants to wake up an hour earlier and be productive, the elephant wants to continue sleeping in the comfort and warmth under the blankets. The elephant and the rider need to work together to bring forth successful and lasting changes.
We spend too much time in the preparation stage. This is often called analysis paralysis. Or we spend too much time creating the perfect plan and waiting until the time is right. When we decide to give up trying, we find ourselves in the first stage of change: pre-contemplation. After multiple attempts at trying to hit the gym and then stopping, we feel defeated because of all the failed attempts. All it takes is trying again to get closer to reaching that goal, even if it means trying and failing times and succeeding the st time.
This goes into our next reason. I go more in-depth into cognitive biases and avoiding them in this article. We fail to use the tools around us. We limit ourselves in our attempts. This can be in the form of refusing to try something new or something different that might work better. Or even just not knowing about tools that are available to reach our goal of change. Making changes oftentimes at the very least requires the proper knowledge. We can overwhelm ourselves if we try to focus on making too many changes all at once.
Making one big change is tough enough. But trying to take on multiple big changes at once decreases our likelihood of successful change. In order to change we need to leave the comfort zone and taking steps into the unknown. And this bring forward our basic fear — the fear of the unknown. We are born to maintain the homeostasis, the status quo, and resist those things that we cannot easily predict the outcome.
Change is uncertain and will lead us through new avenues and new learning. It invites tension and requires extra attention and focus for the new learning to occur. It also requires new energy levels for maintaining the process. For a change to happen we need to accept it. Not only by logical reasons, but also through the act of facing our fears that will surface on the way. We also need to give ourselves permission to make errors, choose suboptimal strategies and solve problems inefficiently.
This means we grant ourselves permission to learn even if these are baby steps. Such an emotional preparation will allow us to embrace the change together with the underlying process.
We want a quick fix without hard work. We want to become fit, healthy or wealthy overnight or in to weeks, let it be a month but no more, ok? This is again related to our inborn difficulty to think and predict trends long term.
We are good at short term perspectives choosing an immediate gain oversleeping, eating cakes, drinking coffee, buying stuff , etc over the delayed gratification. And for these reasons, we will succumb to marketers who offer us shortcuts: one click to become a millionaire, a pill to a perfect body or a car for a perfect self-esteem.
Yet, change is a process. And we need to understand this fact. Change is difficult because we focus on the negative aspects of the change. We follow a wrong strategy. Effectively, we want to uncreate the very thing we have, but instead we usually add more features.
As we know from experience, when we have a poor product or a computer program then adding more features or creating fixes will usually not lead to a better product as a result. We will only get a complex solution, overcomplicated for the tasks to be done, counterintuitive, having too many preferences and unclear choices to be made. And perhaps even conflicts between the existing features. It is much easier to create a new product from the scratch with the essential features only.
It is then well-thought and optimized for the task, hence simple, fast and working like a charm. The same applies to a change. If you focus on uncreating your unwanted habits by introducing fixes, you are likely opening yourself to pain and frustration. You need to replace one habit with another. The blog for passionate planners.
Blog Featured Post. Industry 4. Project Management. Release Notes. Time Tracking. What is resistance to change? Fear and uncertainty fuels resistance Initially, the announcement of something like an office move might be met with excitement and positivity—especially if the building is newer and brighter and better located.
How leaders help navigate change What this means is that leaders need to make people feel safe and secure by addressing their fears and concerns. Professional coaches are excellent at supporting leaders and their teams in the transitioning process What can you do to become better at implementing an organizational change?
Get a live walktrough with a Product Advisor. Get the essential features for 5 people. More Articles. You may also want to reconsider how you recognize employee accomplishments while you're going through a transition. It will be more critical than ever to provide reinforcement to employees struggling to fit these new changes into their already full workday. It's impossible to eliminate all of the negative emotions that come with disruption, but understanding where your employees are coming from can cut down on the amount of sabotage you see from employees.
Awards do not have to come in the form of raises or bonuses, they can be as simple as taking employees aside to talk to them about what they're doing right. One of the best ways to implement change in the office without resistance is to make changes that address specific problem areas for your employees.
When it comes to making better changes, timing also needs to be an important factor. For example, you don't want to introduce a groundbreaking solution that's going to fix all of the company's problems immediately if you made that exact same announcement last month. One of the best ways you can appease your employees is to choose solutions that streamline their day. Instituting new technology that can automate some of the more time-consuming processes for workers can be one change that everyone can get behind.
While technology can be a double-edged sword at times, few workers can deny its efficiency and practicality in everyday life. Whether you're trying to change an entire company culture or just reminding people to put cover sheets on their TPS reports, change has to come from the top. While low-level and mid-level employees should be consulted, it's the leaders who really need to believe in the changes being made.
From there, decision-makers can address the realities of the situation with employees so they can make smarter plans. By balancing communication, rewards, and employee concerns, you can reduce the risk of the pitfalls of change. Professional freelance writer for companies who want to get more done. She enjoys reading, going to the beach, and brief descriptions of herself.
0コメント