I believe most peoples mind’s have a NO! default to suggestions of change. The thought of change is uncomfortable, so the faster we can turn off the thought the better. Test it out for yourself. The next time a friend asks for a cup of black coffee, offer them the alternative of a pumpkin latte, if there is such a thing, and see how quickly they say no thank you. Or purposefully change the seating arrangement in a regular meeting and see how quickly you will upset the feeling in the room. The status quo is the preferred order of the day. Above all most people crave familiarity
We build comfortable patterns in everything we do. My gym recently closed for 10 days during some facility renovation and as being a part of a national chain members were offered free access to a neighboring gym about 8 miles away. Many discussed the inconvenience even though the other gym was almost identical. It had the same equipment, the same racquetball court, the same swimming pool, etc. So, what was there to complaint about? One person complained that he had to go to a different convenience store on the way to pick up his coffee. Someone else complained about missing their favorite person at the entrance desk. And still another said that equipment was positioned slightly different and the cardio machines were up a flight of stairs. Imagine that, complaining about climbing a flight of stairs to get to a stair climber or elliptical?
Our discomfort with change also exists in the subconscious mind as well. There are so many things we do habitually without thinking. I, for example, twice I nearly walked into the lady’s locker room simply because the two rooms were arranged in the opposite order at the new gym and I was used to entering the first locker room I came to. Luckily, I flashed back to my senses before I took too many steps into the women’s world.
Little discomforts of little changes are interesting but not necessarily all that important or critical. The problem with the unacceptance of change is much more troubling in relationships, sports, and business. We hear it frequently in troubled relationships, “he’ll never change” or “she has to have her…” We push and push for others to change to fit into our habitual life but are usually slow to embrace our own change. Being stuck on status quo becomes more important when it comes to running a business where the marketplace, outside conditions, competitor shifts, or customer wants often dictate the next move. Not changing while perhaps giving us a level of comfort often stagnates the business or forces us to miss the next big opportunity.
In the business world we see it all the time as a radical or innovative idea is dismissed by most, even before it hits the agenda. Simple things like changing of packaging, sales process, company slogans, job descriptions, and manufacturing processes are most comfortable when we can say “this is how we’ve always done it”. I’ve seen it in my own career when suggestions for a finance program are met with, “we’re not in the banking business”. Or an idea for a new product line is rejected because, “we tried that back in 97 and it didn’t work. So as they say we stick to our knitting and companies that don’t innovate and grow, will shrink.
We’ve seen the reluctance to change cost major companies, huge potential in emerging industries. Kodak stuck to selling film in the face of the digital age even though a Kodak employee was the first to discover the technique for digital photography. Blockbuster remained comfortable with renting CD’s when Netflix engineered a new world of entertainment which totally flipped home viewing habits. And Blackberry denied the importance of the touch screen as their mini keyboard caused the decline in user preference and smart phones took over the market.
Creating or accepting change takes a different level of thinking. As a child we are much more open to change. In fact, I think we craved it. I remember being so excited when I went to school and found the teacher had rearranged the chairs into a circle. I loved getting new toys or playing new games. No matter how much I loved a toy, the new toy was always more appealing. I think most kids loved the idea of something new and then as we grow up, we start regarding change as risk and it’s no longer so appealing. I still love change. I like trying new foods, meeting new people, and starting new businesses. Maybe I’m not so unique or maybe I’ve just never grown up.
We’ve all been hearing more and more recently about FLOW, the state of almost effortless progress. It’s most notable in sports where we see a team like the New England Patriots stage a remarkable 4th quarter comeback to win the Super Bowl. Or when Michael Jordan took over a basketball game and couldn’t seem to miss a shot. In flow, performance, innovation, and success seem effortless. Flow has a scientific basis in psychology, neurobiology, pharmacology, and technology, but perhaps the most interesting contributor is neurobiology. The experts say that a big contributor to flow is your mind’s ability to shut down the neocortex portion of the brain; the logical analytic portion. One of the most common messages a baseball manager can give to a pitcher during the dreaded mound visit is, “stop thinking and pitch.” How often have we backed down to, “you’re overthinking this”. We need to make space for flow and get comfortable with change. Flow is apparent in authors, musician, and carpenters where they start creating and hours pass where they progress effortlessly.
I love the stories about Steve Jobs and what Steve Wozniak coined as his Reality Distortion Field. It was where he suspended logical thinking in favor of imagination. Most of Apples greatest strides were made after Jobs had been told it can’t be done multiple times. I think we are born in a reality distortion field and we are groomed out of it by the restraints of life. Kids don’t have to be told to dream big; they just do. Yet in business we will kill the idea of a transformative products or process with the first no! We adults need to turn off our neocortex and dream. Great companies are rapidly advancing by not only embracing change but forcing it. Google had it’s 20% time where engineers were encouraged to work on personal ideas or projects. Like everything else, their approach to change has changed but not abandoned. Change is the core of growth. Get uncomfortable to get better.
They say the only thing consistent in life is change. I’ve heard about a policy at SpaceX, Elon Musk calls t Institutional Yes. He believed that ideas grow with “Yes, but…” or Yes, and then…” or “Yes plus…”. Musk believes that yeses build ideas, they don’t kill them. At Musk’s company if you want to say NO, you must follow it up with a two-page explanation of why posted on the company’s web site for all to read.
It is interesting that some of the biggest and brightest in sports, business, and life thrive on change while some of us will never try a new drink, route to work, or approach to our jobs.
Hey, I’ve got an idea, let’s change
-Steve, FFT (Feeder of Food for Thought)
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