Want Different Results? Try Something Different!

The title says quite a bit!

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein

How many times have you stopped and wondered, “why are we making the same mistakes?” I think we all can look back at a situation and if we are objective, we can see a situation or two of repeating the same actions and hoping for different results.

What causes the same old pattern?

• Believing that our way is best. There are lots of smart people out there, but sometimes they are their own worst enemy. They stand up and preach their way or the highway. They get the results that they get and wonder why nothing is changing.
• Not invented here syndrome. I have witnessed this problem a time or two. It is when people or organizations believe that no one else can do it as well as them.
• Afraid of letting go. Giving up the slightest bit of control is a foreign concept. Running your team or organization with a iron fist, only produces results our of fear.
• Fear of learning new tricks. We all have heard, “you can teach an old dog, new tricks.” Sometimes that is simply the old dog is afraid or does not want to learn that new (or different) trick.

What will help you break the cycle?

• Set goals and let your people do the work. Letting go or command and control is difficult for some. In today’s world, if you truly want to help your team grow, you have to help with setting vision/goals and then get the hell out of the way. Let the team learn and grow on their own.
• Realize that you don’t know everything. You may still think you do, but make sure that you spend more time listening than talking. Sometimes the message is not what you want to hear. Don’t react, listen and learn something new.
• Bring in help. Ask for help. Make sure that when you do this, you want to bring in help that is different than yourself. Adding or forcing people to be “yes” people or caring out your actions when not change what is happening.

When everything else has failed… It is time for you to look inward. Maybe your actions or lack of changing your actions are keeping your team from succeeding. Maybe you are the problem. If I want different results (and nothing has changed for almost 2 years) maybe I should take the first step in changing myself.

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