My Change Agent Challenge – Part 2: Integration
October 21, 2009
Earlier this week I invited you to take part in The Change Agent Challenge, a learning experience in which you try to change yourself and see what happens. This post is Part 2 of my own personal Challenge.
In Part 1 of My Change Agent Challenge, I discussed the ways that I increased my motivation to start and continue flossing.
Even though it’s something that I want to do, I still have a hard time remembering to do it. Since flossing is not part of the daily routine, once the autopilot is on, the new step is easily skipped.
Realizing this was happening, I started by paying attention to the autopilot itself. And when I thought about how it worked, it turns out it was counting. That’s right. Each night my brain would do a mental checklist to make sure I had done all the required activities before going to sleep. If I had forgotten to wash my face, for example, there would be a disconnect.
So, to integrate flossing into the routine, I had to consciously add a +1 to the activity count. I wrote the new number on a Post-It and put it on the mirror to try to retrain my brain on the new count.
I still found myself reaching for the toothbrush first when the new step before brushing is now supposed to be flossing. The next step in my analysis was to look at the physical environment. There were two problems.
The first was that the counter was too cluttered so I had to look for the floss each time. That’s an obvious fix. Clear off the counter so only the necessary tools are available.
The second was that the toothbrush holder was far from the rest of the floss and toothpaste. If my first instinct was to reach for the toothbrush, then the floss should be right there so I grab it instead. So, I bought a new toothbrush holder so now my husband and I don’t share one across our long counter. Now my toothbrush is right next to the sink. And the floss is right there next to it.
It takes time to retrain your autopilot, but if you pay attention to what it’s doing, you can find ways to stop and integrate new activities.
My Change Agent Challenge:
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2 Responses to “My Change Agent Challenge – Part 2: Integration”
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The hard bit about individual change compared to organisational change is that it comes down to you. There is no support network, no-one showing you the way, supporting you and doing the bits you are not good at.
As a coach I know that it is almost impossible to coach yourself so I would suggest that if you want to make real and significant change you should get a good coach (advert over). But I don’t know any that focus on flossing!
You’ve hit on the issue for most people and that is motivation. The question is can you maintain this new habit sustainably?To do that you really need to understand how you value yourself (are you your job, do you see yourself in a certain way, is your focus on your work and not yourself or your family tends to come before you). If you can get inside that you can motivate yourself the way you need motivated. So floss for your family!
Martin, thank you for the comment. I agree the exercise is a bit insular in that you don’t have the systemic pros and cons to deal with when trying to implement individual change. At the same time, organizational change is really trying to get a lot of individuals changing in the same direction. If we can understand how to change ourselves, it might go a long way toward understanding what others are going through – and what might work to help them go through it. At the very least it reminds us of a perspective that we might lose when we focus so much on facilitating others through change.
Your “floss for your family” comment triggered a thought that goes along with tomorrow’s post. So thanks in advance for that!