Training a dog can be hard work. Or not. The rules are relatively simple, but then it is rarely the rules that matter most, but instead the application of them. Trainers will tell you that it is rare that the dog is the issue, but rather, you and your inability to apply any methods and rules with consistency and frequency. If you follow the rules one day but not the next, you create confusion, and in that case, the compliant dog will revert to the more spontaneous mode. Yet, they don’t budge once trained and the new norm is adopted.
We are no different. Adopting any new routine or habit requires some simple guidelines and then requires us to apply them consistently and frequently. When we create the rules and don’t ensure we use them as designed and regularly, it is likely not the concept at fault but rather the execution.
You have all been there. You try a new habit for a few days or even a month and then stop and say the program did not work. Agreed, it did not – because you stopped. Similarly, within teams, we look for a change to occur, yet we are unwilling to apply the necessary discipline to effect it and ensure it sticks.
Success is simple. It requires you to (1) choose the program/ system/ behavior/ framework you want to implement, (2) share the details with all involved and be clear on how to apply it, and (3) obtain agreement by all that this is what you will do. These steps apply to anything you may want to do for yourself.
Now the fun begins. Start. There should always be a champion who can support others to ensure that we are on track and help where there may be uncertainty. Then check in regularly, and determine if it is applied consistently. Ask each person, and bring it back on course when it derails from the plan. If the issue is a person unwilling to cooperate, the problem is not the program.
Give it a try, but only if you are prepared to follow through, or it may be better not to do it at all.
