Happy Easter Everyone!! Watching Covid cases surge again in Massachusetts due to more contagious variants, looser restrictions, and unvaccinated people feeling a false sense of security and moving about more, reminds me of a pattern a lot of humans have. This pattern is the tendency to repeat an issue over and over, whether it be at work, in their relationship, in their family, with their friends, etc., before finally facing the problem, figuring out how to break the cycle, and learning the lesson.
As change agents and leaders, we frequently see this pattern of an organization, team, or individual repeat an issue over and over. Unfortunately a lot of times it takes the organization being in a lot of financial pain, the team being in great distress, or an individual being in a lot of emotional pain over the issue having repeated several times before they’ll finally face and address the problem. The question is, how fast do you, your organization, and team learn? How many times does an issue repeat before the problem is faced and addressed?
What are some examples of an organization repeating an issue over and over?
It could be continually:
Announcing a transformation, spending several months working on it, only to result in some superficial changes and no real shifts or advancements
Attacking and punishing the employees brave enough to speak up on issues
Bringing in consulting firms only to have them tell you exactly what your employees have already said
Refusing to look at how leadership is contributing to the problems of the organization
Deploying systems without having the underlying process designed first and trying to fit the process to the system instead of the other way around
What are some examples of a team repeating an issue over and over?
It could be continually:
Spinning on issues instead of making decisions
Having a few team members dominate the conversation and / or decision making process
Interrupting or talking over one another
Being unable to resolve conflict and going to the manager for resolution
Lacking trust in each other and / or not being transparent with one another
What are some examples of an individual repeating an issue over and over?
It could be continually:
Repeating a pattern from relationship to relationship (e.g. ending up with emotionally unavailable or abusive partners, driving each partner away with anger, being unable to be fully vulnerable, hiding parts of yourself, running whenever things get serious or hard, etc.)
Getting emotionally triggered around a particular family member, coworker, or friend
Staying silent when you’re really upset
Being unkind to yourself whenever things don’t go your way, or caring for others and forgetting to care of yourself in the process
Sweeping issues under the rug instead of facing and addressing them
So the question becomes, how much pain is it going to take for you, your team, or organization to address an issue? Per the quote above, do you want a pebble or a brick wall?
Call to Action
Want to be a faster learner? Reach out to Rosanne for help so you can get to root cause, break the cycle, and finally resolve the issue for good.
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About the Author: Rosanne Essiambre helps change agents and departments in one-on-one and group settings to be seen, be heard, and be effective in bringing about change in the organization and/or in their personal lives. She provides consulting and facilitation to organizations to improve communications and collaboration, smooth out the change / transformation journey, get to the root cause of an issue so it can be solved for good, improve processes, and implement successful lessons learned. And she conducts workshops, trains, and speaks on Energy Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Resilience, Being a Change Agent and more. If you or your organization could use support with your change effort or some inspiration, contact Rosanne for a complimentary consultation. Rosanne is a Change Agent Coach, Facilitator, Six Sigma Black Belt, Change Management / Continuous Improvement Consultant, Speaker, and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner with more than 20 years experience working on a variety of transformations across a diverse set of industries both domestically and internationally, while continuously improving herself.