Stepping into the New Year often comes with that list of promising new resolutions to ourselves, full of excitement and vigor that blossom out of the following questions: How can I improve at work? How can I improve at home? With exercising and eating? The list goes on.
We purchase a stack of business leadership books, download apps, bookmark blogs and articles online--ready reading to give us the “ultimate” tools on how to make our day-to-day lives more innovative and productive in “just ten easy steps.”
Yet, in time, the euphoria of our resolutions fades away as the demands of our day-to-day work operations mount. Suddenly, we fall into old habits. This process happens in our work life just as it does with a new exercise or diet regimen. We start with great commitment, begin to see changes, feel more energy, then, when the effort becomes more of a routine, enthusiasm becomes boredom from doing the same thing over and over again. Slowly, our new habits feel only like more work and we stop trying. We go back to old habits – because those habits are comfortable, not to mention easy.
I recently shared my observations of this cycle with a client who I had worked with for several years. We created and implemented several organizational processes and tools with his team to improve communications and enhance productivity for his department. In our conversation, he shared that he was having several challenges with his department in the coordination and collaboration of work and productivity. We tried to determine what could be the root cause of the shift in the once-collaborative working environment we had developed the year before. I asked him if his department was still using the tools we had implemented. Sure enough, after a long pause, he quietly answered, “No.” He explained that everyone was so busy catching up after the holidays on projects that they hadn’t had time to implement the tools. As we concluded our conversation, I encouraged my client to get off the fast moving treadmill and take the time to pull the team together and reintroduce the tools because I know that these tools would help them grow and be more productive in the long run.
Just like a workout regimen or a change in diet, it takes work to apply the practical tools we create. We are made to keep moving forward in our professional and personal lives and there is always room for improvement. Let go of the tools that have outlived their usefulness and concentrate on those that improve process or productivity in order to keep moving forward. Tools should be revisited on a regular basis for improvements and efficiencies in order to empower continued growth in the individual and the organization as a whole.
Working at new ideas and solutions builds upon enriched core values and supports the growth of wellness of any group, business or organization.
