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How to improve with a slow-to-change team
By John Carroll
Contributing Writer
The following is an actual letter I received recently from a team member of one of our clients, revised slightly to maintain anonymity of those involved.
Dear John,
I have a question and would like to know your thoughts on it.
How do you teach an old dog new tricks?
I see my team as, “I’m doing all that I can now, and I am happy with that. Why should I have to or need to learn any more, or change from the way I have been doing (things)?”
I’m scared that if we don’t move into an overall company overhaul, we will either be playing catch-up or left in the dust.
I like selling, buying, fixing and working with what we sell.
I like working for and with my manager, and I’m trying to take some of the pressures of the business off of him so he can concentrate on more pressing issues.
I guess my question is, “How can I help get the company to the next level working with old dogs?”
Thanks for your help.
Alex
Perhaps a better question is, “How can I work around the old dogs and try new tricks?”
People are highly unlikely to change, and even when it happens, it is rarely much of a change.
Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase “significant emotional experience,” or SEE. Examples of this are a near-death experience, loss of a job or loved one, divorce, etc.
One of these is often the catalyst for change, and anything less gives most people little reason to make any substantial or fundamental changes, i.e., leave the comfort zone.
That is why you might see someone come out of a broken relationship and get fit and healthy in relatively short order, even after decades of unhealthy living. The person takes steps initiated by the event that rocked his or her world.
Don’t waste your time, your energy or your life trying to change people who are set in their ways. It is akin to herding cats; it doesn’t work.
Determine whether you are in an environment that rewards efforts toward new tricks. Keep what works, toss what
doesn’t and continue moving in the right direction.
If you are not in an environment that rewards this type of behavior, decide whether to remain in that situation under those conditions. The choice is always yours.
Know that where your focus is, there also goes your thinking, your attitude and your possibilities.
Don’t allow obstacles to cloud your thinking. Identify them, plan to bypass or obliterate them, and keep moving forward.
By wondering how to work around obstacles, your focus is on the obstacles. By keeping your eye on the target, you give much more energy to the possibilities than to the obstacles.
John Carroll is a business consultant, speaker, author and president of Unlimited Performance inc. in Mount Pleasant. E-mail him at jcarroll@uperform.com.
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