Wondered why it is difficult to change. Asking WHY is the key? Many times in organizations and even in our personal lives some behaviour, some style of working, or some way of making decisions comes across as so very sticky because it was a manifestation of success at some time in our experiences.
We accumulate a lot of wisdom based on successes we derive in one space or context and then superimpose that in other spaces and maybe even literally in everything that we do. Edgar Schein the culture expert speaks of culture as a residue of success.
Let us go back to an old story of the monkeys in a cage with bananas hanging at the center. Each time a monkey climbed to pluck the banana's a strong jet of water was sprayed on the monkey and the monkey fell down from the ladder when trying to reach the bunch of bananas. Every attempt by any monkey was met with the same fate. Over a few such experiences, the monkeys collectively learned that it was not right to pick the bananas and a cause-effect relationship was etched in their mind. Go for Bananas and Get Knocked down. Soon, one of the monkeys is removed from the cage and replaced with a new monkey. The water jet is also removed. As soon as the new monkey sees the bananas and climbs to reach the bunch the other monkeys quickly pull him down. This happens as a pattern and after a few unsuccessful attempts that new monkey too gives up and does not try to get the bananas after learning the cause and effect. One by one all the original monkeys are replaced by new monkeys and the socialization process continues now it does not matter that all original monkeys are not in the cage the pattern of behaviour continues and no monkey can get the bananas. None of the new monkeys actually experienced the cause and effect but they learned the shared ways of avoiding the bunch of bananas and it became an unquestionable action to be followed, and none would question such an action.
This is how a practice gets established based on past experiences and cause and effect relationships helped us learn to do things a certain way and then slowly forget to question it. If we need to change we have to use a different frame or lens. What we viewed in the context of the early days when the monkeys and the jet of water were present was no longer relevant once the jet was removed. However, this did not happen and the behavior was sustained. So unless the behavior is analyzed and viewed in the context of the new situations the behavior won't change. This applies to our work as well as our personal lives. It is important to check the assumptions, clarify the current understanding, and then decide. What worked in one context may not be relevant at all in a different context. One of the ways to change something for good or better is to understand WHAT and follow up with WHY that is happening. When we understand the "WHY" then the root cause of the action or behavior can be understood and then necessary change may manifest. Understanding the WHY addresses one of the aspects of driving change. Other ways of driving change will depend on specific reasons the change is difficult and will address a couple more in later posts. Cheers !!!
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