In our previous blog, we talked about people as the life blood of your organization. Now let’s take a look at some of the resistance that comes up when faced with this awareness and then what is central to moving beyond it.
Resistance is all too familiar (and normal / natural) and we hear it described by pointing to problems in the following way:
- “Our organization can’t manage change effectively”
- “We don’t have a compelling vision and/or strategy”
- “Our roles and responsibilities are unclear” or “We have conflicting goals”
- “We are siloed” or “We don’t ‘team’ well”
- “We have the wrong people” or “Some of our people won’t make it”
- “We don’t prioritize” or “There’s no work/life balance”.
This causes a kind of malaise that creeps into organizational life, where we start to relate to the “way it is around here” as wrong, bad, or some other version of “not this”.
It lives in the background like a low-level hum of white noise.
Because it lives in the background of our activity, we don’t notice how it permeates our reality, shaping our existence and coloring our point of view; we accept it as “fixed” and “the way it is,” unable to change or challenge this underlying assumption.
You know what this feels like. It is that faint sense of “dis-ease” that we feel, even when things are going relatively well. It’s that low-level fear that something is either wrong or will be discovered to be wrong soon!
This low level noise shapes your organization’s very culture and results in behaviors that most would term “resistance to change.” And yet, you know you work with dedicated and intelligent people who are, like you, committed to contribute and make a difference.
So, what’s going on here? What invisible force is at play, sapping the energy and juice from people who are inherently creative and productive?
What gets lost, or perhaps forgotten, is our relationship with who people are. Not just as personalities or as egos, but at a more essential level—commitment.
There is a magic that happens when people commit.
Even if you have a personality that is risk-averse or cautious, if you are committed to innovation in your R&D role we guarantee you will find a way to make bets on new ideas, even if they are unproven.
Your commitment to innovation and creativity will overcome your fear of making mistakes.
We see this all the time; often the most cautious engineers are the ones who are able to invent the most daring new product designs. Their commitment to something bigger than themselves overrides their personality.
Commitment taps into a bigger part of who we are at an essential level: creative and self-renewing human beings.
At Trilogy Effect, we believe that people are committed to contribute and make a difference with their lives. We see this vividly in our everyday encounters with people in business.
We work with people who spend their time and energy to market, innovate and deliver products and services to their clients around the world. And they do this in the face of competitive threat, conflicting priorities, insufficient resources, extremely high expectations and personal sacrifice. It takes great courage to be in business!
When we surface and understand people’s commitment, it provides the greatest access to their potential, and taps into the broadest base of your organization’s capability.
When you are working and creating from this place, you are in a state of renewal and generativity. This is a state of high return for your organization. You are at your most productive, innovative and effective. And that is good for business!
