Too many business owners, managers, etc., do not connect the dots between their behaviors and their process. Everyone wants to get the job done faster, with fewer mistakes, and make more money, but more times than not, the way to achieve those outcomes is to look at yourself and name the behavior and its associated emotion.
Remember, for all practical purposes; all behavior are, is the connection between actions and emotions. The first step, which is often the most overlooked, is a personal assessment of your state. Ask yourself the following questions before beginning any process improvement.
Establish State
- What is the problem we need to solve?
- Why is it important to solve this problem?
- How do I feel at the current moment?
- What is causing me to feel this way? List the causes.
- How do I want to feel if (insert task) was completed correctly?
- What actions/choices do I need to make to get to my desired feeling?
I hope you’re beginning to see the connection between understanding your mental states and making a process change. The ability to look at ourselves critically allows taking ownership of the change we wish to make. Enabling us to engage with ourselves and our team with honesty, purpose, and understanding of emotional outcomes, for lack of a better metaphor allowing us to put our oxygen mask on first.
By you and your team completing this exercise, you have taken the first step towards creating a process inlined with your behaviors. I suggest having all parties involved answer and share their results. This will allow all of you to be on the same page and see each person’s perspective on the problem.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and please share this post with someone you think this article can help.
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