Improvement implies change;
… change implies learning;
… learning implies asking questions;
… and asking questions implies listening with both humility and confidence.
The humility of knowing that their are many things we do not yet understand; and the confidence of knowing that there are many ways we can grow our understanding.
Change is a force – and when we apply a force to a system we meet resistance.
The natural response to feeling resistance is to push harder; and when we do that the force of resistance increases. With each escalation the amount of effort required for both sides to maintain the stalemate increases and the outcome of the trial is decided by the strength and stamina of the protagonists.
One may break, tire or give up …. eventually.
The counter-intuitive reaction to meeting resistance is to push less and to learn more; and it is more effective strategy.
We can observe this principle in the behaviour of a system that is required to deliver a specific performance – such as a delivery time. The required performance is often labelled a “target” and is usually enforced with a carrot-flavoured-stick wrapped in a legal contract.
The characteristic sign on the performance chart of pushing against an immovable target is the Horned Gaussian – the natural behaviour of the system painfully distorted by the target.
Our natural reaction is to push harder; and initially we may be rewarded with some progress. And with a Herculean effort we may actually achieve the target – though at what cost?
Our front-line fighters are engaged in a never-ending trial of strength, holding back the Horn that towers over them and that threatens to tip over the target at any moment.
The effort, time, and money expended is out of all proportion to the improvement gained and just maintaining the status quo is exhausting.
Our unconscious belief is that if we weather the storm and push hard enough we will “break” the resistance, and after that it will be plain sailing. This strategy might work in the affairs of Man – it doesn’t work with Nature.
We won’t break the Laws of Nature by pushing harder. They will break us.
So, consider what might happen if we did the opposite?
When we feel resistance we pull back a bit; we ask questions; we seek to see from the opposite perspective and to broaden our own perspective; we seek to expand our knowledge and to deepen our understanding.
When we redirect our effort, time and money into understanding the source of the resistance we uncover novel options; we get those golden “eureka!” moments that lead to synergism rather than to antagonism; to win-win rather than lose-lose outcomes.
Those options were there all along – they were just not visible with our push mindset.
Change is a force – so “May the 4th be with you“.