I first met Eric (not his real name) in a new manager training I was facilitating. He had recently become a manager after several successful years as an individual contributor and was excited to learn more about his new role. Throughout the next two days Eric fully immersed himself, engaging with other participants and actively practicing new concepts. At the end of the training, Eric committed to let go of more of the tactical work he was doing to empower his team and open up his time to think strategically.
Two Techniques for Helping Employees Change Ingrained Habits
The power of if-then planning and mental contrasting.
March 28, 2018
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Summary.
Far too little time and focus is devoted to how to change existing habits and behaviors, which are often the greatest barriers to personal growth. Behavioral science sheds some light on how we can change our habits. The first step is considering your ideal future state and the obstacles you expect to face on the way to achieving that state. This exercise is called mental contrasting. Anticipating obstacles and deciding to pursue the goal anyway increases our commitment. And considering obstacles allows us to plan for them. The second step builds on mental contrasting and involves framing your goal as an “if-then” statement. The “if” is a goal-relevant situational cue, and the “then” is your goal behavior: If it’s 9am on a Friday, then I will spend 60-min focused on our team’s strategy and vision for the future. Gurus and coaches often tell people to “visualize success,” but that’s not enough. To really achieve your goals, don’t stop there. Think through what will get in your way, and make a plan for overcoming it.