Recently, I watched a film “Nature: Leave it to Beavers” with my son. He is almost three and is currently exploring different kinds of animals. Some animals that he watches he imitates, and some he just wants to watch again and again. Well, I am so grateful that he made me watch the documentary with him. I used to think that beavers are nice friendly creatures, but I was fascinated to learn that they are actually- The Best Hydro-Engineers in nature. I was intrigued to learn more about their inherent behaviors and the efficient work they do in maintaining the aquatic ecosystem.
I asked myself, do we have anything in common with so called beaver behaviors? For centuries, natural scientists who study nature have tried to solve many of life’s mysteries. I am sure there is quite a powerful connection if we can just interpret how beavers collaborate, communicate and build their close knit culture to work together so efficiently and effectively, day in and day out.
This thought inspired “Unleashing the Power of Behaviors” as our topic INFOCUS for understanding behaviors and how they are shaping the prevalent cultures in any organization today. If your company is enjoying a positive work culture, with happy employees and high productivity, congratulations! However, if that is not the case and you are one of those leaders who understands the situation well and who is looking for something concrete that can help to change the culture of your organization, more likely you may also be wondering what you can do or where to start.
STOP!
Take a deep breath and read on, because here is the magic recipe for creating great culture- You can change the culture of your organization by simply changing the behaviors of the people working in your organization! And let me share the best piece of information with you. Changing behaviors is neither hard, nor does it take a long time. Just make sure whatever you do, don’t make the following mistakes:
Here are Top 10 Mistakes in Behavior Change: (From the Stanford Persuasive Tech Lab)
1. RELYING ON WILLPOWER FOR LONG-TERM CHANGE.
Imagine willpower doesn’t exist. That’s step 1 to a better future.
2. ATTEMPTING BIG LEAPS INSTEAD OF BABY STEPS.
Seek tiny successes- one after another.
3. IGNORING HOW ENVIRONMENT SHAPES BEHAVIOR
Change your context and you change your life.
4. TRYING TO STOP OLD BEHAVIORS INSTEAD OF CREATING NEW ONES.
Focus on action, not avoidance.
5. BLAMING FAILURES ON LACK OF MOTIVATION.
Solution: Make the behavior easier to do.
6. UNDERESTIMATING THE POWER OF TRIGGERS.
No behavior happens without a trigger.
7. BELIEVING THAT INFORMATION LEADS TO ACTION.
We humans aren’t so rational.
8. FOCUSING ON ABSTRACT GOALS MORE THAN CONCRETE BEHAVIORS.
Concrete: Walk 15 minutes today.
9. SEEKING TO CHANGE A BEHAVIOR FOREVER, NOT FOR A SHORT TIME.
A fixed period works better than “forever”.
10. ASSUMING THAT BEHAVIOR CHANGE IS DIFFICULT.
Behavior change is not so hard when you have the right process.
Source: Stanford Persuasive Tech Lab
I would like to conclude with a thought “Our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as being able to remake ourselves.” -Gandhi
With these words, I would like to “THANK YOU” for joining us in, Changing the Global Conversation on Human Performance!