Change or Die - Which Would You Choose?
I read a fascinating article recently based on some medical research. The study was of a large sample of people with life threatening heart problems – all of whom were facing surgery. They were all by their doctors that, irrespective of the surgery, they would have to change their behaviour (eating, drinking, smoking and exercise) or they would die.
Astonishingly only 10% of the sample actually changed their behaviour. 90% of the people faced with the choice of changing their behaviour or death, chose the latter option!
You might think that this has somewhat depressing implications for the world of work. What chance changing someone's behaviour at work, you might say, where the consequences are so much less dramatic.
The second part of the study was interesting though. A second sample of patients, with the same level of heart problems, was subjected to an alternative approach. They were put together into groups where they worked together over time to support one another in making the needed changes to their behaviour. The results were equally striking. No fewer than 85% of the patients succeeded in making sustained changes to their lifestyle – and a significant number of them were able to avoid surgery entirely as a result.
Changing behaviour in organisations
In today's service economy, organisations are increasingly dependent on what people do and how they do it. From the supermarket checkout, to telephone banking to operating complex processes within organisations to developing leaders the challenge is to get ever larger and more diverse groups of people to behave in ways that will deliver success.
As the medical example above illustrates, changing peoples behaviour can be very difficult. With the pressures for ever faster results that all leaders are faced with, quick fix solutions are attractive.
The most common of these is reward schemes. For more on why most of these are doomed to failure see the article "Have you ever wondered why…. Reward schemes don't work" or the book review on Alfie Kohn's definitive book on the subject "Punished by Rewards". In short though, we know from experience that reward schemes can and do work in the short term but in the long term are, at best, ineffective and, at worst, destructive.
The second response to behavioural change is to send people on training courses. It seems to me that one of the worst kept secrets in working life is that training courses simply do not work. Almost all of us have been on courses and have usually returned unchanged. Even when we have been on a really good course and have been really motivated to make changes at the end of it, such good intentions are usually lost in the pressures of the day to day hurly burly very soon after we return.
Whether it is changing the lifestyles of people with heart disease or changing what people do and how they do it organisations there are 6 critical factors that are necessary for sustainable behavioural change. None of them are straightforward but they are all achievable and the prize for success is high.
The six conditions for successful behavioural change
Six, closely related, things need to be present for people to change what they actually do:
Skill - People need to know how to do it?
In many fields there is theory and good practice that has been developed by experts and refined in use. It makes sense to use this to accelerate the learning process. Many training courses, however, fail to go beyond this and ignore the other five factors which is why so few of them deliver the sustainable change that people want from them.
Will – They have to want to do it
The active engagement and support of the participants is critical to achieving behavioural change because each of them will have to take on the risk and discomfort of trying, and persevering, with something new.
People don't tend to learn or change unless they can see how that change makes a contribution to their own needs and aspirations. This requires time and individual interaction with each learner. What is it that they truly and deeply want? How could the change proposed contribute to that?
Focus – It has to be one of their main priorities if it's not to get swamped by other work.
There is a limit to the number of things that any of us can remember at any one time. If we are to practice and learn something new it has to be the focus of our attention. This means either making it a priority (for the learner as well as for the organisation) over other things or clearly attaching it to an existing priority.
Relationships – People need the support of those around them to make and sustain change.
Relationships with those around us play a big part in our behaviour and also in any attempts to change it. To change we need to engage the support of others around the learner in what they are trying to learn. In many cases, these others will need to also change their own behaviour to make it easier for the learner to experiment and practice.
Change isn't easy and we all need the support and challenge (in that order) of others around us to have the courage to begin, the fortitude to persevere and the clarity to remember what we are trying to do and why.
Practice – The new behaviour needs to be practiced and reinforced over time.
We all know that practice is the key to learning anything new. In the early stages though, practice is uncomfortable and feels risky. It's surprising how many other things we can give priority to over practicing something new and different. We therefore need ways to remind and hold ourselves (and one another) accountable for practice and to reward ourselves for doing so. Building in routines and triggers for our practice increases the amount we do and thus the speed with which we improve.
Learning – We need to reflect on our practice and continually adapt.
None of us do the same thing the same way. We will start with best practice and adapt it to our own style and what works best for each of us. In order to do this we need to reflect on the results of our practice and adapt our approach to do more of what is working and try something different where it is not.
Six rules for successfully and sustainably changing behaviour
Rule 1 – Involve everyone who is involved
There will be a number of people, in different departments and with different levels of seniority who have an impact on the issue on question. They all need to be involved as anyone omitted will become a limiting factor in the change.
Rule 2 - Take time to understand
Everyone involved will have an important part of the jigsaw. Understand from everyone:
- What they know about the problem.
- What they know about what success would look like.
- What they want from the change.
Rule 3 – Learn from outside
Introduce relevant external best practice/methods to the group and allow them to discuss how these might be adapted for the issue at hand.
Rule 4 – Change the system
There will be organisational systems and processes which currently obstruct the behaviours being sought. Get the group to identify these and identify groups who will address them. You may well find that this needs to include people who are outside the group addressing the core issue.
Rule 5 – Commit individuals to action
Engage and support every individual in the system to understand what they can do differently to play their part in the change. Ensure that everyone makes public personal commitments to their own behavioural changes and which they ‘can be counted on for'. This is best achieved in small groups or pairs before being published more widely.
Rule 6 – Sustain the changes
Integrate the initiative into all management processes – particularly leadership meetings, management information, performance management and communications.
Bring the group together on a regular basis to reflect on progress, establish what has been working and what needs to change. This review needs to include the changes at the system level (Rule 4) and also at the individual level (Rule 5). Once the learning has been extracted re-initate commitments to action.
These reviews should be frequent – particularly initially – and be given dedicated time. Continue this process of regular review and reinforcement for at least a year.
If you think you have an application, or even are just interested to learn more, then the best way to begin is with a conversation. We don't believe in a ‘hard sell' and often find that people get value out of the exploratory discussion - whether or not we go on to work together. You can contact us at www.leadershipconnections.co.uk.
Chris Henderson.
Astonishingly only 10% of the sample actually changed their behaviour. 90% of the people faced with the choice of changing their behaviour or death, chose the latter option!
You might think that this has somewhat depressing implications for the world of work. What chance changing someone's behaviour at work, you might say, where the consequences are so much less dramatic.
The second part of the study was interesting though. A second sample of patients, with the same level of heart problems, was subjected to an alternative approach. They were put together into groups where they worked together over time to support one another in making the needed changes to their behaviour. The results were equally striking. No fewer than 85% of the patients succeeded in making sustained changes to their lifestyle – and a significant number of them were able to avoid surgery entirely as a result.
Changing behaviour in organisations
In today's service economy, organisations are increasingly dependent on what people do and how they do it. From the supermarket checkout, to telephone banking to operating complex processes within organisations to developing leaders the challenge is to get ever larger and more diverse groups of people to behave in ways that will deliver success.
As the medical example above illustrates, changing peoples behaviour can be very difficult. With the pressures for ever faster results that all leaders are faced with, quick fix solutions are attractive.
The most common of these is reward schemes. For more on why most of these are doomed to failure see the article "Have you ever wondered why…. Reward schemes don't work" or the book review on Alfie Kohn's definitive book on the subject "Punished by Rewards". In short though, we know from experience that reward schemes can and do work in the short term but in the long term are, at best, ineffective and, at worst, destructive.
The second response to behavioural change is to send people on training courses. It seems to me that one of the worst kept secrets in working life is that training courses simply do not work. Almost all of us have been on courses and have usually returned unchanged. Even when we have been on a really good course and have been really motivated to make changes at the end of it, such good intentions are usually lost in the pressures of the day to day hurly burly very soon after we return.
Whether it is changing the lifestyles of people with heart disease or changing what people do and how they do it organisations there are 6 critical factors that are necessary for sustainable behavioural change. None of them are straightforward but they are all achievable and the prize for success is high.
The six conditions for successful behavioural change
Six, closely related, things need to be present for people to change what they actually do:
Skill - People need to know how to do it?
In many fields there is theory and good practice that has been developed by experts and refined in use. It makes sense to use this to accelerate the learning process. Many training courses, however, fail to go beyond this and ignore the other five factors which is why so few of them deliver the sustainable change that people want from them.
Will – They have to want to do it
The active engagement and support of the participants is critical to achieving behavioural change because each of them will have to take on the risk and discomfort of trying, and persevering, with something new.
People don't tend to learn or change unless they can see how that change makes a contribution to their own needs and aspirations. This requires time and individual interaction with each learner. What is it that they truly and deeply want? How could the change proposed contribute to that?
Focus – It has to be one of their main priorities if it's not to get swamped by other work.
There is a limit to the number of things that any of us can remember at any one time. If we are to practice and learn something new it has to be the focus of our attention. This means either making it a priority (for the learner as well as for the organisation) over other things or clearly attaching it to an existing priority.
Relationships – People need the support of those around them to make and sustain change.
Relationships with those around us play a big part in our behaviour and also in any attempts to change it. To change we need to engage the support of others around the learner in what they are trying to learn. In many cases, these others will need to also change their own behaviour to make it easier for the learner to experiment and practice.
Change isn't easy and we all need the support and challenge (in that order) of others around us to have the courage to begin, the fortitude to persevere and the clarity to remember what we are trying to do and why.
Practice – The new behaviour needs to be practiced and reinforced over time.
We all know that practice is the key to learning anything new. In the early stages though, practice is uncomfortable and feels risky. It's surprising how many other things we can give priority to over practicing something new and different. We therefore need ways to remind and hold ourselves (and one another) accountable for practice and to reward ourselves for doing so. Building in routines and triggers for our practice increases the amount we do and thus the speed with which we improve.
Learning – We need to reflect on our practice and continually adapt.
None of us do the same thing the same way. We will start with best practice and adapt it to our own style and what works best for each of us. In order to do this we need to reflect on the results of our practice and adapt our approach to do more of what is working and try something different where it is not.
Six rules for successfully and sustainably changing behaviour
Rule 1 – Involve everyone who is involved
There will be a number of people, in different departments and with different levels of seniority who have an impact on the issue on question. They all need to be involved as anyone omitted will become a limiting factor in the change.
Rule 2 - Take time to understand
Everyone involved will have an important part of the jigsaw. Understand from everyone:
- What they know about the problem.
- What they know about what success would look like.
- What they want from the change.
Rule 3 – Learn from outside
Introduce relevant external best practice/methods to the group and allow them to discuss how these might be adapted for the issue at hand.
Rule 4 – Change the system
There will be organisational systems and processes which currently obstruct the behaviours being sought. Get the group to identify these and identify groups who will address them. You may well find that this needs to include people who are outside the group addressing the core issue.
Rule 5 – Commit individuals to action
Engage and support every individual in the system to understand what they can do differently to play their part in the change. Ensure that everyone makes public personal commitments to their own behavioural changes and which they ‘can be counted on for'. This is best achieved in small groups or pairs before being published more widely.
Rule 6 – Sustain the changes
Integrate the initiative into all management processes – particularly leadership meetings, management information, performance management and communications.
Bring the group together on a regular basis to reflect on progress, establish what has been working and what needs to change. This review needs to include the changes at the system level (Rule 4) and also at the individual level (Rule 5). Once the learning has been extracted re-initate commitments to action.
These reviews should be frequent – particularly initially – and be given dedicated time. Continue this process of regular review and reinforcement for at least a year.
If you think you have an application, or even are just interested to learn more, then the best way to begin is with a conversation. We don't believe in a ‘hard sell' and often find that people get value out of the exploratory discussion - whether or not we go on to work together. You can contact us at www.leadershipconnections.co.uk.
Chris Henderson.