Posts Tagged ‘Results’

The definition of insanity

19 June 2009

Disciplining middle schoolers. Can you imagine a more thankless task? I had a recent experience of watching teachers trying to keep 6th graders in line, trying it discipline them, impose sanctions, etc. The teachers didn’t get very satisfactory results—to say the least.

I have a 6th grader myself, so I struggle with this challenge. What I noticed about other people (the teachers and students) is that they were locked in at least one recurring pattern. Each person was repeating the same behavior and getting the same reaction from the other. Here’s how the patterns might look:patterns-for-blog1

In the first pattern, the teacher would ask the student to do something or for an explanation of their behavior, and the student would ignore or dismiss the request, even become intransigent. In the second pattern, the teacher would tell the student what to do, and the student would rebel, refuse to do the task or do something the teacher didn’t want them to do.

As the saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again—and expecting a different result. When two or more people are stuck in a pattern they are both acting “insane” because they keep doing the same thing but hope for a different result.

When you’re stuck in a pattern, not getting the results you want, there’s only one thing to do: change your own behavior. You can’t control the other person’s behavior (especially a teenager’s), but you can control yours.

In other words, try something different and see what result it has. What if you “offered,” “explained,” or “thanked” them? Chances are they’d respond differently.

It’s hard to tell when we ourselves are stuck in a pattern. It’s easier for an outsider to see it, so ask for help. Try using the diagram above to reveal the pattern.

The more you can detect you’re stuck in a pattern, identify it, and act to break the pattern, you’ll be far more effective as a influencer—whether you are trying to sway the CEO, your siginificant other, or a teenager.

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Keep on truckin’

4 August 2008

In the late 60s and early 70s, an R. Crumb illustration Keep on Truckin’ showed three men in a row walking with outstretched front legs. It inspired people to keep going in spite of setbacks. (Or, at least, that’s how I interpreted it.)

I think about that phrase Keep on Truckin’ when it comes to changing a work relationship or an organization. It takes hard work. And there are setbacks. And, to make matters worse, you have to keep working at it over time.

It’s not easy, and it requires you to stretch yourself in ways that don’t always feel good. You have a part in creating every situation you’re in; changing the situation means changing your behavior.

The payoff for all that effort rarely comes when you expect it, and often not in the way you expect it. But it usually comes—if you keep at it.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins calls this pushing on the flywheel. Imagine a massive cast iron wheel that you can move only an inch or so at a time. You keep pushing, again and again, until it starts to rotate. Keep at it over weeks and months and years, and it starts to gain momentum. Then, and only then, will you start to experience the breakthroughs. They come because you kept pushing on the flywheel.

Many of us expect results too soon and give up on pushing the flywheel too early. Actually, if it is the right thing to push, we should probably expect to be pushing it forever. So, pick your flywheel carefully!

What is the flywheel you’re pushing on?

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Skip the branding

24 July 2008

How many change initiatives have you seen that are branded with a snappy name, logo and even special graphics? I’ve seen more than my share, and none of these “newslettered” (or “websited”) programs seem to go anywhere.

I ran one of these much-heralded programs years ago. We enjoyed a national reputation for it, but those of us on the inside would shake our heads in bewilderment when we compared our national reputation to our puny results.

These days, I avoid from branded initiatives, because I suspect that they are simply “flashes in the pan” that will not last or have any measurable impact on the organization. And, I urge my clients to skip the fanfare and simply get to work.

Because the fanfare is not the change. Not even close. The real work is looking at personal and organization patterns that constantly recreate the status quo and figure out how to shift them to produce the results you want. The branded approach tends to reinforce old patterns, not spawn new ones; it works against the change.

This is not to say you can skip the hard work of communication and implementation when it comes to change. That’s essential. What I am suggesting is to stop thinking about it as a short-term, flashy program and instead treat it as a lifetime commitment.

It’s kind of like dieting. Diets don’t work for long, but long-term changes in habit do.

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