If you feel "unwell," it's logical and normal to go to your family doctor for a checkup, a diagnosis, and a course of treatment to restore your lost health.
Some companies do the same with their organizational health, but not all are willing to listen to the diagnosis and implement the solutions.
It often happens that, after completing the analysis phase to understand the causes of the problems facing them, some "patient" companies begin a "dialogue" phase, where they try to convince the consultant, and themselves, that the organizational "pains" weren't really that serious. These are clear symptoms of what we call resistance to change.
Some managers are also tempted to believe that because they have been successful in managing companies in the past, they are in a position to know what the best remedy is now that their companies are sick.
Translated into the realm of personal health, it would be equivalent to saying to the doctor: "Look, doctor, I understand what you're proposing, but I've been taking care of my body for 40 years and I've survived quite well so far, so I think this treatment you're prescribing isn't the most appropriate for my illness." Or, "Look, doctor, you say I should take this antibiotic in a daily dose for seven consecutive days, but I want to tell you that I already know, because I know myself very well, that taking it for two days will be enough."
This argument sounds ridiculous when we put it in the context of a doctor's visit, but it is heard quite frequently when we are talking about "Company Doctors."
It seems as though the fact that we are dealing with two completely different levels of professional competencies is ignored. I may be a very good engineer, but if my doctor tells me I should exercise to stay vital or take this or that medicine, it's wise to listen to him, since what he tells me comes from his own knowledge base, which has nothing to do with mine, since I am an engineer and he is the doctor. It's best to listen to him because, I insist, he is the doctor!
As consultants, we regularly encounter patients with these behaviors, who are obviously practically impossible to help. Although they took the initiative to consult a professional, they appear unwilling to follow their recommendations.
Recently, when the company doctor insisted that they take the prescribed treatment seriously, a "patient" responded as follows:
"We've thought it over carefully and believe we're not yet ready to begin this Continuous Improvement program given our many internal issues."
In the ears of the consultant (doctor) it was heard like this:
"We're not in a condition to take the prescribed medications because we're still very sick. When we're healed a little, we'll begin treatment and take the medication."
Yes, I know it sounds funny and even grotesque, but the sad thing is that the crisis many companies are currently facing, with hundreds of weeks of uninterrupted growth, has caused most production systems* to collapse, and perhaps it is this unprecedented growth that has some managers confused.
However, this thinking is based on an ironically flawed premise: the belief that you have to be healthy to take the medicine! It is now, precisely in the midst of the crisis, that action is needed to eliminate the symptoms of "deep organizational disorders."
As experts in Organizational Health, we believe that these behaviors are ultimately symptoms of other very common problems in companies. We are specifically referring to Resistance to Change.
If I say yes to the doctor, if I accept his recommendations, he may force me to abandon habits that are destructive to my organizational and personal health, and that requires paying a price I'm not willing to accept. There will surely be requests to abandon inappropriate behaviors that are causing my current illness, and at the same time, I will have to adopt new, healthier habits aimed at regaining my lost health. And the truth is, it's very difficult for me to do that... After all, I'm not that bad...
Only through a clear vision of the desired future state, critically contrasted with the current condition, and at the same time through the recognition that the doctor possesses knowledge that I must and can draw upon, will we find the strength to carry out the treatment, despite all its risks and difficulties. We must deeply desire to be healthy again, otherwise, our resistance to following the doctor's instructions will overcome.
Every change involves a certain risk. At the beginning of some treatments, one may feel as though the expected results aren't being achieved, but we know there are no quick fixes if you want to eliminate the root cause of a problem.
As with personal medicine, having a doctor's opinion and a written prescription isn't enough to cure us. It's inevitable to make the decision to get better and take the necessary steps to implement that treatment.
See you next time.
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* This growing demand has been partially slowed by the conflict experienced in recent months, and we all hope the country finds a way to sustain its growth. Just as an example, consider how maintenance experts are a dwindling resource, as are engineers in any field. It's very interesting to see how HR departments are struggling to keep up with hiring people, whether to support growth or the unprecedented mobility we're experiencing these days.
