Some people
One of the more common conclusions I hear in organizations is the notion that “there are some people you’ll never be able to change.” It is usually an easy statement to get popular support for. We’ve tried everything we know and they still persist in disappointing us. We’ve reinvented processes and systems to work around them and have developed enough social cohesion to innoculate ourselves against the toxic affects they create.
In most cases, it’s only accurate to say that “how to change them is something not yet obvious to us.” We can make assumptions about their potentiality based on their actuality, but we may be inaccurate in doing so. Reality is that new ideas could occur to us, leading to the most actionable questions of all: How much faith do we have in our creativity? How capable do we think we are in inventing new approaches to the seemingly impossible?
At the end of the day, how we act is a function of our faith in ourselves. Evidenced by Art Buckwald’s very frank and authentic reflection that the last year of his absolutely amazing life (spent in hospice) was in fact “the best year” of his life. Amazing …
January 22nd, 2007 22:01
This is a great point, and the question I would ask the managers is what have then done to change and adapt. In most cases the managers are the least likely to change as they have had prior success. As a leader climbs the corporate ladder it is important to remember they work for their team and their team does not work for them.