Friday, January 25, 2008 at 2:02am
Broken New Year's resolutions?
Column: Executive Soul
By the end of January, studies show, 35 percent of all New Year's resolutions will have been broken. In like manner, about 70 percent of all organizational change efforts fail to achieve the desired results. How are these two statistics related?
Broken New Year's resolutions and failed organizational change efforts have something in common: They both neglect "competing commitments" to their peril. The silver lining in the cloud of broken resolutions and failed organizational change is the learning that can occur through examining these competing commitments. Self-reflective individuals and organizations celebrate their failures as a way to learn and grow.
In "How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work," Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey point to the competing commitments that prevent individuals and organizations from achieving their stated goals. We break our New Year's resolutions because we don't pay attention to the commitments we hold that compete with the resolutions we articulate. For example, I resolved to get organized and de-clutter my home office in 2008. It's Jan. 25, and my home office is just as cluttered as ever. I've realized that I hold a competing commitment — the commitment to hold on to all the old photos and memorabilia that I accumulated when I cleaned out my mother's house after she died almost a year ago. My competing commitment is a commitment to honor my mother's memory, a commitment that I can celebrate. Once I understand my competing commitment, I can honor both it and my commitment to get organized, and find a way for both commitments to find expression in my life.
Organizational change efforts, like individual New Year's resolutions, tend to focus on desired change without digging deeper to examine competing commitments. We're all familiar with the term "resistance," used to describe the forces that keep us from changing, both individually and organizationally. It's easy to view resistance negatively, viewing it as the effort to cling to the old when it's time to usher in the new. If instead of thinking in terms of organizational resistance to change, we can think in terms of competing commitments organizationally, we will be able to mine rich veins of learning.
For example, employees in a hospital that moves to a new facility may be "resisting" new team structures tailored to the new setting. By exploring what competing commitments the employees hold (such as a commitment to honor the relationships that were built through the team structure at the old setting, a team structure that doesn't fit the new setting), leaders can understand and respect employees' needs. Uncovering competing commitments can help organizational leaders take into account important values that they have overlooked.
The next time you're feeling discouraged by a broken New Year's resolution or a failed organizational change effort, look deeper. You're likely to find a competing commitment that is just as important and honorable as the "failed" commitment. By honoring both commitments together, you can build a stronger foundation for moving toward your goal.
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Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations," works with leaders in business, healthcare, government and non-profits to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com. © Copyright 2008 by Margaret Benefiel.
Broken New Year's resolutions and failed organizational change efforts have something in common: They both neglect "competing commitments" to their peril. The silver lining in the cloud of broken resolutions and failed organizational change is the learning that can occur through examining these competing commitments. Self-reflective individuals and organizations celebrate their failures as a way to learn and grow.
In "How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work," Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey point to the competing commitments that prevent individuals and organizations from achieving their stated goals. We break our New Year's resolutions because we don't pay attention to the commitments we hold that compete with the resolutions we articulate. For example, I resolved to get organized and de-clutter my home office in 2008. It's Jan. 25, and my home office is just as cluttered as ever. I've realized that I hold a competing commitment — the commitment to hold on to all the old photos and memorabilia that I accumulated when I cleaned out my mother's house after she died almost a year ago. My competing commitment is a commitment to honor my mother's memory, a commitment that I can celebrate. Once I understand my competing commitment, I can honor both it and my commitment to get organized, and find a way for both commitments to find expression in my life.
Organizational change efforts, like individual New Year's resolutions, tend to focus on desired change without digging deeper to examine competing commitments. We're all familiar with the term "resistance," used to describe the forces that keep us from changing, both individually and organizationally. It's easy to view resistance negatively, viewing it as the effort to cling to the old when it's time to usher in the new. If instead of thinking in terms of organizational resistance to change, we can think in terms of competing commitments organizationally, we will be able to mine rich veins of learning.
For example, employees in a hospital that moves to a new facility may be "resisting" new team structures tailored to the new setting. By exploring what competing commitments the employees hold (such as a commitment to honor the relationships that were built through the team structure at the old setting, a team structure that doesn't fit the new setting), leaders can understand and respect employees' needs. Uncovering competing commitments can help organizational leaders take into account important values that they have overlooked.
The next time you're feeling discouraged by a broken New Year's resolution or a failed organizational change effort, look deeper. You're likely to find a competing commitment that is just as important and honorable as the "failed" commitment. By honoring both commitments together, you can build a stronger foundation for moving toward your goal.
— — —
Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations," works with leaders in business, healthcare, government and non-profits to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com. © Copyright 2008 by Margaret Benefiel.