Pride, procrastination and other good things that hold us back from change
Change management has been one of my personal hobby horse topics for some time now, very likely because it is also where I started my working career and specialised in through my MBA. This economic climate is driving change and if any of you watched any European elections, the trend is very clear those that were in government get voted out and new guys with a change message get voted in, which I guess is not too dissimilar to what happened with the Obama election. People are fed up with the same inefficience at government level and choose a clear difference. If you are the owner of manager of a business or department, would your team re-elect you? If you are a solo-preneur, would you choose for you again?
Even though we all recognise that there is a need for change, often we assign the change to have to come from the outside as opposed to ourselves or within our business as well as outside. In Ireland a lot of the economic crisis has been blamed on the global downturn and if that picks up the local economy will also improve… hmm, forgetting inefficiencies in our public sector, government as well as banks, spending patterns and other general head in the sand type policies from the people in leadership. But that is a totally different discussion. When it comes to change, it is amazing how often we are totally unaware of our own resistance to change and we even convince ourselves that it is just a matter of time before things will turn around for the better or we make statements that it isn’t too bad, etc. etc.
We all have unique ways of holding ourselves back and having experienced some extended periods of major upheaval, I have had to get very much up close and personal with my own resistors. One that took me by surprise a bit is the power of pride in stopping change, pride of achievements and what I stood for closed off opportunities that were presenting themselves quite clearly but my pride didn’t allow me to see them or even contemplate pursuing them. In some cases even to the extent of alienating people with ideas and suggestions. I don’t believe I had to diss my achievements, but I did have to sideline personal pride or stubborness to get out of the impasse I was in and that took a good bit of mental persuasion to say the least. I had little peptalk sessions to be open to opportunity and also invented a rule to give something at least 1 week of proper consideration before moving away from it and that helped keeping an opportunity mindset.
When I did my first coaching course in 2001, the training mentioned that in life we often receive little nudges to encourage us to change into a new direction or change something about ourselves, but when we keep ignoring the little nudges they tend to grow into seriously big trucks coming towards you hitting you off your path and throwing you into a new direction and no matter where you move to these trucks keep finding you until you get the message and change. Well to be honest I think sometimes I must just be a slow learner because up till now my life has been full of nudges and quite a few trucks and you think that at this stage you learn to recognise them and adapt sooner.
When the economy started to go south in my line of work, I did what most entrepreneurs were doing I thought let’s wait and see if it will get better, I procrastinated like no tomorrow and did all sorts fo non-effective business building or reorganising on a very superficial level. Until the proverbial truck hit and I had to take big action from leting staff go to closing down the office location and retreating back to working from home. The old tactics of building business were no longer working and it has made me rethink everything to do with this business and I am working on more dramatic changes, but only after it nearly floored me as a person as well as the business.
Procrastination shows in multiple forms and it is up to you to recognise what you do, once you know how then you can change it. I have seen people hide in IT land, meetings, networking events, books, etc… but the real essential change isn’t getting done even though they know damn well that something needs to change, even if what exactly isn’t so clear. My suggestion for you is to find your procrastinator and then work at reducing the time it spends consuming you, it’s amazing what change you can bring about. Hint, hint, it’s probably somethign you do every day more than once per day.. for no particularly logical reason.
Focus on what is important to you, not what everyone else says it should be. In a time a rapid change, which is now happening around us, there is a tremendous potential for new creation and re-invention of you and your business. One book I read early in my MBA always comes to mind when I think of re-invention, namely the Semco story where the company nearly went under but thanks to serious maverick actions the workers managed to turn the business around and in the process entered several brand new markets, produces products and services it never originally had, etc.at the same time they also challenged every bit of management thinking and came up with a brand new internal model. (Book: Maverick by Semco)
So if your business isn’t working as it is, then maybe it is time to go back to the drawing board and do something drasticly different, engage your staff in the process as they are often the best to spot new opportunities.
The fear factor is another one of those great show stoppers, if you are stopped by what other people might say… here is a newsflash most of us think about ourselves about 90% of the time if not more… so for you to get on someone else’s radar screen, you want to be seriously special to them. If you are seriously special to them they will also want the best outcome for you and that means communicate your fears and ideas in equal measure and bring them along, you might be amazed at the support. Breaking into a new area may feel uncomfortable and as long as you don’t expect perfection from the first step it can also be very liberating and invigorating.
If something is no longer working whether it is your business, a person in your team or just you… look at the situation from every angle and see if you can find the cause of the problem and if you don’t find a cause then I urge you to pay even more attention because it is very likely a little nudge, which if ignored turns into a truck…so look at change options. If you are living in a state of change overwhelm, where the need to change is so obvious and so clear but you really don’t know how to get your head and actions around it, then I advise you to hire a coach or trusted advisor to help explore options. Whatever you do, make sure it is what you see as the best option and not what people tell you to do. Some advice is good, but then keep your own critical thinking ability in check as well as everything you value in life and business and when the advice still fits after that little detour, then maybe it is the best way forward. Time is relative in these kinds of change periods, so let that not be the decisive factor, but clarity, values, peace of mind to have made the right decision and excitement for your new direction are a must.
For now all I will say is that I am personally changing into a new direction, I am proud of my achievements in my business for the last 9 years and have absolutely no regrets of my current decision to pursue a new direction. What it is exactly remains private for now, as for the coaching business this will transition into an e-business with outsourced coaching. This blog will remain because I enjoy writing about business and where people can improve. At the same time I am excited to explore my new adventure, so what is your adventure going to be?