Overcoming the powerlessness of the own assumptions: The immunity to change
The Immunity to change shows why change is so difficult - and how it can still succeed. People and companies like to set goals, only to find that 80% of the time they are not achieved. Why is that?
Fill out the Immunity to change for yourself or with your team and you will learn what you can do to really achieve goals. Follow the eight steps described below. Ideally, you should be accompanied for the first time by someone who is familiar with the method. Then it can unfold its full power and you do not run the risk of losing yourself.
1. Identifying the collective improvement goal
Start in the first field at the top left of the table.
Agree on a single collective goal, such as "We want to reduce our administrative burden."
Assess its direction with the following questions:
Do we agree that we are not doing a good enough job in this area?
Do we agree that we can influence the achievement of the goal independently?
Is it important for us to get better in this area? Are there big advantages (or disadvantages) if we do this?
It is often the case that goals are defined as such, but are not recognised as their own by those involved. The company wants to reduce costs, while the employees would like a pay rise. No wonder that the team does not work towards a common goal!
2. What do we (not) do instead?
Then fill in the second field at the top of the table to the right of the target.
List behaviours that are working against the improvement goal. For example, if you have that you want to spend less time on administration, you can write here: "Meetings". here: "Meetings".
Proceed as follows:
Be as specific as possible.
Do not ask why at this point.
Acknowledge the things that team members bring to the table.
3. Uncovering competing, conflicting objectives
Now go to the right into the field "Why".
Ask yourself why you are doing what you listed in field 2. For example, why do you so many meetings?
4. Uncovering collective big assumptions
Now you are almost there. Each of us has assumptions that make us do things the way we do them. For example, if we think "we need meetings so that we all have the same level of information", then we have a lot of meetings, which prevents us from achieving the goal in box 1.
Now go to the right one last time in the first line into the field "What are the underlying assumptions?". You have now reached the very back of the table.
Fill in all the thoughts that make you do what is written in the field "Why?"
5. Filling in the anxiety box
Now we come to the heart of the matter. What would happen if you no longer had what you listed under 4? So what would happen if you didn't all have "the same level of information", to use the example from above? It probably wouldn't fill well for some. Into the axiety box then come things like:
I would not feel good.
I would have the impression of being treated unfairly etc.
At this point, really collect all the worries and fears offered to you by the team. Now you see the reasons why goals are so often not achieved: People have underlying fears that prevent them from achieving goals.
6. Dissolving the fears
Once you have identified what stops people from achieving the goals they have set for themselves, you can start to work on it:
Now slide down one field in the right-hand column, again in the field "What are the underlying assumptions?".
Ask yourself:
Is that an assumption or a fact?
Is it really essential that everyone has the same level of information?
Isn't information more of a fetch than a bring? Do we really need all these meetings or how could we organise ourselves differently?
So we could put in here, "If you want a piece of information, get it yourself."
7. Why?
Now go back the way you came in the bottom row and ask yourself why you 6. now assess it like this?
You might find answers such as: "People are clever enough to know what they can find where. where."
8. What do we (not) do instead?
Now fill in the last field by sliding to the left again in the lower column into the field "What do we (not) do instead?"
If you have gone all the way this far, you will find that you are now probably doing "Have fewer meetings". This will probably bring you much closer to your original goal.
And all this because you have gone to the bottom of your assumptions! Deeper, often unconscious fears are the main reason why people and organisations fail to achieve their goals. Change cannot be achieved at the level of behaviour. We need to go deeper. It is worth it. Try it out!
