and its Challenges

By Subrata Dey EDRC-MMH ICand its Challenges

1The Challenges Studies reveal that only 9% of people modified their behaviour for better and healthy living even after undergoing a life-threatening bypass surgery.

Over 70% of change initiatives in organizations fail because of people resistance not because they werent good business ideas, driven by sound analysis, systems and facts.2The Challenges Have you ever shouted at your kid, spouse or colleague for their (bad) habit?

Dont they know that giving up bad habits by embracing change will be good for them, family and company?

Ever experienced these frustration?

Why do people cant change?3Change is the only constantPeople don't resist change. They resist being changed due to behavioural mindsets.

Behavioral MindsetsChange Needs EffortSeniority SyndromeCompeting CommitmentsResisting Factors

Prisoner of Past Change is indeed more work. We are creatures of habit. Routines become automatic, but change jolts us into consciousness, sometimes in uncomfortable ways. Too many differences can be distracting or confusing.

Change Needs EffortFear of Unknown and Uncertainty. People will often prefer to remain mired in misery than to head towards an unknown. As the saying goes, "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know." To overcome inertia requires a sense of safety as well as an inspiring vision.

Change Needs EffortLoss of control: As per "Kanter's Law everything can look like a failure and out of control in the middle of change initiative. Leaders can play important role in convincing people to adapt the changes. Although leaders can't always make people feel comfortable with change, they can minimize discomfort.

Change Needs EffortRipple effects. Like tossing a pebble into a pond, change creates ripples, reaching distant spots in ever-widening circles. The ripples disrupt other departments, important customers, people well outside the venture or neighbourhood, and they start to push back, rebelling against changes. Change Needs Effort

Prisoner of PastBehavioral MindsetsChange Needs EffortSeniority SyndromeCompeting CommitmentsResisting FactorsSilo Culture: People working in organization or department for longer duration can develop this sort of mindset. Their experience and knowledge being limited they are unaware of the changing outside world.

Prisoner of PastChange is a departure from the past. Those people associated with the last version the one that didnt work, or the one thats being superseded are likely to be defensive about it. Illusion: Old is gold. These people are living in the illusionary world that past success can be replicated in the future as well. They believe that the processes or business models that have worked in the past will lead to success in the future.

The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterdays logic." Peter Drucker Prisoner of Past

Competencies. Some people enjoy change because it provides them with an opportunity to learn new things and grow personally and professionally. Others abhor change because they lack the competency to learn new skill and resists change. They prefer to remain in their comfort zone of past.

Prisoner of PastPrisoner of PastBehavioral MindsetsChange Needs EffortSeniority SyndromeCompeting CommitmentsResisting FactorsMany among us suffer from this Seniority Syndrome. We succumb to the unjustified demands of our superiors.We also expect our subordinates to follow us blindly. We reject their constructive suggestions for a better process or product to remain in our own comfort zone.

The corporate world has many Eklavya and Dronacharya. Seniority Syndrome Our Values

Form Mythological stories Gurukul to Class room to Corporate setup????

During the British Rule of India, A British school inspector once came to a school and set a spelling test. A boy spelled all the words correctly except kettle. The class teacher noticed the mistake and gestured him to copy the correct spelling from the boy sitting next to him. But the boy refused to take the hint and was later scolded for his "stupidity. Our ValuesYour Guru is not always correct

The Boy wasAt first Narendra did not accept Him as his Guru. He tested Him in various ways and asked him many critical questions. The Teacher also encouraged him and told him "Test me as the moneychangers test their coins. You must not believe me without testing me thoroughly. Narendra debated, questioned, argued and then accepted Him as his Spiritual Leader. Our ValuesQuestioning ,Testing and Arguing is not Disrespecting

Our Values

Seniority Syndrome

Speaking up is not questioning the authority.Change will occur when Meritocracy supersedes Seniorito-cracy because lot of them are just resting on their past reputation of good performer. Seniority Syndrome

21 Seniority Syndrome

A typical example of meritocracy society.Prisoner of PastBehavioral MindsetsChange Needs EffortSeniority SyndromeCompeting CommitmentsResisting Factors

John an African American has been promoted to Lead the Product Testing Vertical of an American software company dominated by Americans. John was a believer in open communication and valued closed working relations. John wanted to move up the organization, but his personal working style, his caustic sense of humor was holding him back. He was counseled and he readily agreed that he needed to change his way, but time after time he reverted to his original style.Competing CommitmentsBoth John and his boss failed to understand why he is undermining his own advancement ?

Behavioural Scientists on the basis of their research have coined this term Competing Commitments. It is a subconscious, hidden goal that conflicts with their main stated commitments. Sometimes top performer and most valuable employees are unwittingly caught in a competing commitment. A Competing Commitment make people personally immune to change. Worse, they can undermine the best employee and an companys success.

Competing CommitmentsA project leader dragging his feet has an unrecognized competing commitment to avoid a tougher assignment that may come his way if he delivers too successfully on the current project. An outstanding performer when promoted to managerial role failed miserably. His passion to be at the front with team members detracts him from playing the role of the manager as a consequence of which the project suffered.

Competing CommitmentsDiagnosing the competing commitment requires introspection and asking a few tough questions to oneself. It can be due to long held beliefs, habits and assumptions. Boss, peers and family members may help to identify such commitment through dialogues.

Im jogging to.I just love itCompeting Commitments

Competing CommitmentsBoth John and his boss failed to understand why he is undermining his own advancement ?

Our Friend John is also suffering from competing commitments. John believed that if he became too well integrated with the team, it would threaten his loyalty to his racial group. In short, while John was genuinely committed to working well with his colleagues, he had an equally powerful competing commitment to keep his distance to avoid any backlash from his friends and family.Whether Johns Fear is Genuine?

Competing Commitments

A handshake to congratulate the winning team ruined Kabir Khans life in the movie Chak De India Video Time

Competing CommitmentsFor more on competing commitments read the HBR article or the Book by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey.

Prisoner of PastBehavioral MindsetsChange Needs EffortSeniority SyndromeCompeting CommitmentsResisting Factors

We can learn more about resistance to change from neuroscience. Research has shown that resisting change is not only natural, but most often even involuntary.Human Behaviours are governed by the BrainExercise -1BlackBlue GreenRedGreen OrangeOrangeBlackRedYellowRed BlueBlueBlackYellowGreenOrangeBlackRead the Text and note the required time.Exercise -2 u u RuG rge u Rg BG e R eu Gn r cIdentify the Colour of the Text and note the time.The Unbiased BrainExercise -3BlackBlue GreenRedGreen OrangeOrangeBlackRedYellowRed BlueBlueBlackYellowGreenOrangeBlackThe Biased BrainIdentify the Colour of the Text and note the time.The Human BrainMuch more time required for the 3rd Exercise. Right?

The 3rd Exercise is a deviation from routine i.e. we are used to read the words and not to identify the colors. This is a change for us.

Independent research in different fields i.e. Neuroscience, behavior psychology and change management has given us some insight about it.The Human BrainDaniel Kahneman Nobel Prize Winner in Economics describes two systems that govern how the mind works, one we control and one we do not. System 1: Fast, automatic, frequent, emotional, stereotypic, subconscious.

System 2: Slow, effortful, infrequent, logical, calculating, conscious.

We could not survive without System 1 and yet it often causes us to make systematic errors in specific situations.

Daniel Kahneman is a psychologist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, as well as behavioral economics.The Human BrainNeuroscientists divides the brain into X-system (reflexive) and C-system (reflective) functions.

X-system is energy efficient, reacting automatically and fast. It is tuned in to immediate goals and past emotions, memory, habits and beliefs, it matches perceptions with patterns on the fly.

The C-system takes more energy to function and processes information more slowly, one step at a time. Governing higher order thinking, the C-systems job is to consciously reflect on, challenge and correct the X-system.

The Human Brain

Unconscious Brain, Takes control whenever perceives threat.Conscious Brain, can overrule hidden brain under normal circumstances.38

The Subconscious BrainThis is the X-System by Neuroscientist and System 1 by Kahneman.Hidden brains main imperative is survival and any perceived threat leads automatically to a fight or flight response. It is the place where we have uncontrollable emotional reactions. Think of it as the Read Only Memory (ROM) of a computer that has preprogrammed routines, but in this case, they get called automatically by various circumstances. It is the storage place of our habits and works on Autopilot mode.Our brain uses up to 20 percent of our energy. In the days when food was scarce, humans did their best to conserve energy, which meant relying as much as possible on the hidden brain for survival.Even today most of our decisions and perceptions come from the hidden brain. We cannot control which ones get called and when.

The Conscious &Evolved (PFC) BrainThis is the C-System by Neuroscientist and System 2 by Kahneman.This is the more modern and evolved part of our brain called the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC). This is unique for human being.This is the reasoning part of the brain, sometimes called the human brain and it can overrule subconscious brain under normal circumstances.Think of it as the Central Processing Unit of a computer that does the thinking for the computer.Using the PFC actually causes pain, because it takes hard work.The good news is that we do want to enhance our chances of survival, and when we plot a new path and take a new step that works, we get shots of Dopamine that give us a pleasure rush.Our Brain tends to work with law of least effort. The Human BrainExercise -3 Identifying the ColorPF Cortex in use and there is direct conflict with Hidden brain which is trying to read the word.High energy requirements.Exercise -1 Reading the TextHidden (habitual) Brain in use which works in autopilot mode.Low energy requirements.BlackBlue GreenRedGreen OrangeOrangeBlackRedYellowRed BlueBlueBlackYellowGreenOrangeBlackBlackBlue GreenRedGreen OrangeOrangeBlackRedYellowRed BlueBlueBlackYellowGreenOrangeBlack41The Human Brain

Learning to Drive??PF Cortex in use which needs concentration and causes stress.High energy requirements.

Expert Driver- multi tasking??Hidden (habitual) Brain in use which works in autopilot mode.Low energy requirements.42The Human Brain By Mark Jaben

X-System or System-1C-System or System-243The Challenges Have you ever shouted at your kid, spouse or colleague for their (bad) habit?

Dont they know that giving up bad habits by embracing change will be good for them, family and company?

Ever experienced these frustration?

Why do these people cant change?44The Habit Formation

The Habit Formation

1.If the C-System thinks about doing something new, X-System can enable it under normal circumstances.2. As we perform an act, a feedback loop between C-system and X-system (inner brain) occurs and we get shots of Dopamine (reward) for positive outcomes.3. When we repeat the activity for N times, it gets stored as chunk of actions within the X-system (inner brain) as HABIT.46The Human Brain

When our Brain has pre programmed routines (Habits/ behaviourable patterns) which get called automatically by various circumstances then Any Idea?47Prisoner of PastBehavioral MindsetsChange Needs EffortSeniority SyndromeCompeting CommitmentsHow to Change

When the brain is filled with routines that get in the way of change, perhaps we can beat the brain at its own gamecreate new automatic routines that support continuous improvement. Human Behaviours are governed by the BrainHow to ChangeJohn Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor has given a crucial insight Behaviour change happens mostly by speaking to peoples feelings.

Reframe: New way of thinking about our future.

Relate: A coach, Guide or Supportive Peer Group.

Repeat: Requires repeating healthy behaviours until they become the new routines.Alan Deutschman in his Book Change or Die has suggested that creating new behaviour patterns is Possible through the 3Rs Reframe, Relate and Repeat.49ReframeWe have to REFRAME our thoughts.

We have to pay attention repeatedly to new actions and insights over a period of time.

We have to question our long held behavior, assumptions and beliefs.

50RelateJust like the trainer of the driving school, for reinforcing positive change we need support and immediate feedback from othersa buddy, leader/coach or family member.

The role of the coach is very important. The corrective feedback reminds us about the REFRAME and positive feedback acts as a reward and motivates us to proceed with the change.

51RelateIt works when there is an emotional bond between the two. Change for improvement needs emotional persuasion and trust.

For organizational changes CEO plays the role of Guide and he has to address a diverse and heterogeneous audience. The story has to be simple, easy to identify with, emotionally resonant and evocative of positive experiences.52RepeatThe Repeat requires repeating healthy behaviors until they become the new routines.

Repetition is required to transfer the data from Prefrontal Cortex to Habitual brain so that the new routine can work in Autopilot mode without conscious effort.53Dr. Ornish ProgramHe experimented with 333 patients with Severely clogged arteries.The patients were put on Ornish vegetarian diet with less than 10% of calories from fat.The patients attended twice-weekly group support sessions with psychologist.The attended meditation, yoga and aerobic exercise classes. These program lasted for a year.The study found that even after 3 years 77% of the patients maintained the practice and avoided the heart surgery.54Dr. Ornish ProgramConventional wisdom says that the crisis is a powerful motivator for change. But severe heart disease failed to change the behaviour of majority (91%) of people.(Not part of the program).

The 3FsFacts, Fear, and Force never work for implementing change. Facts are attempts to influence the PF, but the resistance comes from the hidden brain that is not processing facts rationally.

Fear and Force directed at your survival instinct works only when you are at gun point 24 hours a dayvery unlikely to happen.

55Dr. Ornish Program

Change or Die will lead to threat response.It stops reflective thinking and habitual brain takes the control.56Dr. Ornish ProgramHe avoided to motivate his patients with Fear of Dying.He inspired a new vision of joy of living and convinced his patient that they will feel better and will live longer with his ideas.Joy is a more powerful motivator than Fear.

He supported them in their pursuit with Support Group for a period of one year until that become the routine for the majority.57Dr. Ornish Program

Change for Improvement will lead to Positive Response.It encourages reflective thinking and allows Prefrontal Cortex to be in the control.58The Human Brain

Positive emotions keeps us motivated to learn the driving. 59The Human Brain

Yes, we can overcome the obstacles the hidden brain presents to thoughtful and deliberate improvement.

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