Why Is Change So Hard? (Part 3 of a 4 part series)

The easy part in wanting to make changes (in business, or in your personal life) is identifying the problem or opportunity, and prioritizing what you might like to do about it.

The hard part is taking action and changing the attitudes - and equally important, the behavior.

Consider two key elements for making the change process happen: your underlying motivation and the decision process itself.

1. Underlying Motivation - Centers on how dissatisfied you are with the current state of affairs, how strong is your vision of how things could be better or different, and the clarity with which you can see specific action steps necessary to move things forward.
2. The Decision Process. The decision to commit to a new strategy or whatever the change may be is generally not a one-time event, rather it reoccurs each time you are faced with a conflicting choice and you confirm your original decision by choosing the new behavior and leaving behind the old habit behind.

BOTTOMLINE: Don't make resolutions -they're not clear or precise enough. Make a decision about something you would like to accomplish or change in your organization. Choose carefully, and then monitor how well you find your own and your team's attitudes and behaviors conform to the decision on a consistent basis. As you do this you will be practicing the discipline required for effective execution.