I have recently got a new phone – and it led me to think about a few things.
Let’s be straight from the outset; I wasn’t looking to upgrade, but the financial elements of my contract were such that I wanted to re-negotiate. The new handset was the sweetener in the deal.
I had resisted upgrading for some time because I was happy with what I had. The device did what I needed it to do, and I had become increasingly aware that more and more of my life was tied up in the phone that I owned.
In short, my perception was that the pain of change was greater than the pain of standing still and experiencing a catastrophic breakdown later on. So, I chose to look the other way.
Isn’t that what we do all too often?
I remember working with a business which was operating with old machines. At the time, the maintenance department did an excellent job keeping them going, and all was well. However, the original machine manufacturer had long since gone bust, so the spares on the shelf were not going to last forever. Also, the business running the machines had neglected to buy the drawings when they had the chance. Hence the opportunity to manufacture spares had also been lost.
This organisation was faced with a ticking time bomb – but the pain of doing anything about it caused them to look the other way – much like me and my phone.
It is true that until the discomfort of the present moment becomes greater than the perceived fear of the change, and hence the unknown, that most of us will put up with what we have today, even with the threat of something catastrophic occurring.
To plan for painful circumstances is not something that most of us feel comfortable doing – but when we hedge against the downside, the balance tips in favour of the transaction’s upside. We start to think more in terms of positive benefits, and action is then seriously considered.
Part of my perceived pain around swapping to a new phone was the estimated work of moving every piece of data across and starting again but, as it turned out, I needn’t have worried.
The handset I selected was a new, all improved, latest version from the same manufacturer and operating system that I was used to.
In this sense, the swap could be viewed as more of a gentle augmentation and gradual introduction of new technology. We often see a “fix the world” introduction of something that doesn’t fit with our current systems, which only causes more difficulty in the long run. Be honest – how much of your data is held “outside” of official systems, hidden away on individuals computers?
My decision to purchase something compatible undoubtedly paid off. Just moments after unpacking my shiny new device, it had connected itself wirelessly to my old phone and was transferring all of my data across! I didn’t have to refer to a hand-written list of telephone numbers once!
To me, this feature was way up in the stratosphere of the Kanu diagram and had undoubtedly influenced my purchase decision. Jeffrey Liker describes the eighth Toyota management principle as “adopt and adapt technology that supports your people and processes” – which strongly resonated at the time.
In wireless data transfer and set-up, the technology available certainly supported me in my need to change equipment. In terms of downtime, I was without a phone for approximately ten minutes. Technology had struck a huge victory for set-up reduction.
But has getting this new phone changed my life? Did I become instantly more productive?
The answer is no.
So why not?
Because I haven’t changed.
Think about where you work. Is there anything particular enabling technology from which you don’t get the full benefit?
Such a deficit is undoubtedly the case with me and my phone. I use it to make calls, text, take photos, and use social media – but I know it can potentially do so much more for me.
So, we circle back to the central theme of everything that I like to talk about, both in my books and on this site. Develop and place your faith in people. If you are a leader, your job description is clear; set the direction and coach people towards it – everything else on your scorecard comes for free.
If am I to get the full benefit of the astounding technology at my fingertips, I need to trust and take responsibility for my own learning. I must immerse myself in what is new. Only in this way can I release the technology’s potentiality and turn it into a tangible reality.
Then again, the actual truth is somewhat starker. People are the technology. Human beings are remarkable, yet we still do not understand our brains’ full functionality, any more than I comprehend the functionality of this shiny new phone.
Perhaps the question becomes this. Do we have the humility to learn?
We are each of us living in the experience of our own thought in the moment. Further, we are all doing the very best that we can with the information that is currently available to us. Through mind and consciousness, we project that outwards into the physical environments where we live and work – and get tricked that the transaction is happening the other way around.
To change how we experience our environment, we only have to accept that thought is pulling all the strings.
So, at the age of 46, I may consider that I am too old to learn all this new stuff – and that may be my resistance point when you ask me why I cannot use all the features on my new phone. But perhaps you might coach me, and ask: “where do you think that your resistance to learning is coming from?”
I might point to a host of poor learning experiences in the past – which I have built up into a portfolio of evidence that I cannot be developed any further. It is my wall which I hide behind, the wall that prevents me from changing and allowing the processes to improve around me.
“And where are those experiences now?” you ask.
“In the past.”
“So can they hurt you anymore? Is it possible for your resistance to travel through time, from the past?”
“Well, er, no?”
“So is it possible that you are experiencing your thought in the moment?”
Who knows where such a transformative coaching discussion could lead? But imagine if breaking through resistance to change was that easy?
The truth though, is that it is.
I speak more about the impacts of 3P Lean (the three principles of Thought, Mind and Consciousness) in part two of my book “Super Lean – Unlock Your Company’s Million-Dollar Edge.”
I would love you to read it and help push the discussion forward. Thanks for your time.