Making Changes? Pay Attention to High Achievers

"Future shock [is] the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time."
--Alvin Toffler

You already know that working more doesn't necessarily mean better results.

But we still do it.

In fact, we have more knowledge than ever about psychology, physiology, and well-being, but still fall into the "It'll be better if we work harder and longer" trap, followed by "We'll slow down as soon as we reach______."

Which is what people with addictions often say.

Whether you are a talented manager caught up in activity--or a talented worker at the receiving end--you may notice that, indeed, the results don't always seem to match the effort.

Maybe it's because you're talented and stressed.

Talent + Stress: Unproductive Combo

It turns out that, under pressure, talented people become distracted because the stress uses up their working memory. "Working memory" is something that highly accomplished people have in abundance; they rely on it to solve challenging problems. Under stress, they use shortcuts that undermine their normal strategies and make them less accurate.

This comes from the research of  Sian Beilock, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago as reported in Science Daily.

Professor Beilock also notes that those who start with less adequate supplies of working memory learn other ways of problem solving to compensate for their deficiencies. The downside: Although these folks aren't impacted additionally by working under pressure, their alternative problem solving strategies aren't highly accurate to begin with.

The punch line for organizations:

Watch the High Achievers

When initiating change, lots of attention is given to "the masses." It's assumed that the "best and the brightest" will embrace and lead large scale change. The research here shows that such conventional wisdom is neither conventional nor wise.

We want to believe that, under stress, there are organizational superheroes who will save the day. That kind of thinking just isn't borne out by the research cited here. In fact, putting too much of an extra burden on high performers may actually ensure decreased accuracy in problem-solving when good judgment is needed the most.

Stress levels are a somewhat personal thing, so there's no gauge that says,"When we hit 7.5, stop!" But this new information does say, "Pay closer attention to how much change can successfully take place in a given amount of time."

Ignoring the reality of the data may not only undermine a major change effort; it may also undermine the very well-being of the people needed to take the company into the future.

How do you think organizations can--and will--react to this kind of information?

Note: A tip of the hat to Shane at Zoomstart whose article got me thinking about this.

Comments

[Luc Debaisieux]

Steve,

This is clever thinking. I think the main key to remember is that organizations, companies, businesses wouldn't be worth anything without the people working for them. The "HUMAN" factor is the most important factor to be considered in priority... and not as a necessary check-list point. This is true on a cruising day-to-day basis and above all when "change" is the keyword in the hallways.

I link this also to the working environment and "life" conditions within a company : essential! Look at Google's offices in Geneva. Now, how does it feel from outside the company? Feels like missing an "inside the company" experience, doesn't it! ; )

http://www.popgive.com/2008/03/google-office-in-zurich.html

[Steve Roesler]

Hi, Luc,

Hope all is well back in Belgium. Those photos are either of the coolest place to work or the best propoganda ever. Either way, I'd give it a try!

[peter vajda]

Hi, Steve,

Wonderful post and thank you for piquing my interest.

Some thoughts:

Stress, the uqibuitous element found more and more in today's workplaces is, in my experience, the one insidious quality that drives folks to experience bodies that are anything that are relaxed - tired, sore, hurting, broken and weak; hearts that are anything but peaceful - angry, sad, depressed, resentful, broken and jealous; and minds that are anything but quiet - busy, on overdrive, non-stop thinking and obsessing, and caught up in debilitating self-judgments and criticisms....all the stuff that brings one to say, "I can't think straight." - the mantra of many stressed folks these days, especially at work.

There is a direct correlation between physical (and emotional and psychological) well-be-ing and cognitive ability. No wonder folks can't think straight in many of today's workplaces (and homes.

The kicker is that for every Google, there are thousands of companies who fail to align their corporate story or philosophy or mission/vision with the well-be-ing of their employees...in that many of these organizations haven't a clue or don't care that many of their employees are phyical, mental and emotional wrecks---even though their well be-ing has a direct effect on profitability.

Many managers and leaders profess to belong to the church of "employee concern" but very, very few managers and leaders actually show up at the services.

These stressed folks are not engaged but, rather, disengaged,(many such folks are my clients; I see this first-hand every day)...slowly dying on the vine of work...as a result of work-related stress. So much presenteeism - showing up in a fog, basically unable to peform at maximum due to their emotional, mental, physical and psychological state.

The kicker is that while some companies espouse wellness centers, gyms, meditation classes and the like, the truth is many, if not most workers, fail to take advantage of these perks because of a culture (driven from the top)that subtly says, folks who take company time to do so are not committed to the company. The other kicker is that such perks at most companies are NOT seen as a worthwhile "investment" in folks but as an EXPENSE. Hmmm

On the other hand are some employees who perpetuate their stress, are their own worst enemies...telling themselves stories like: I'm young so I can get away with 70-hour weeks; I have no time to exercise; I can't afford to take care of my health right now; taking time to work out at work on company time is self-serving; not working out is OK because I devote my free time to my family; etc., etc.

Sadly, for many, the Universe will slap many across the face, to wake them up, with a heart attack or illness or disease or dis-ease of one kind or another - accident, divorce, spouse/partner having an affair, estrangement from family memebers, and/or mental, emotional or psychological imbalance.

Fortunately, many whom I come across see the (spiritual) emergency that is ensuing and decide to take the steps to change...revisiting their values, motivations, needs and wants, life and work choices...and come out the other end in fine shape. Many don't and keep on keeping on until it's quite late in the game...and pay a steep penalty on many levels.

And, yes, many of these folks are quite talented.

Talent alone will out...not always.

Life is, indeed, choices.

[Carmine Coyote]

Great post, Steve!

Maybe what confuses those in charge is that talented and creative people begin by responding to additional demands by being more creative. All kinds of pressures and restrictions in modest amounts tend to increase creativity. It's like a poet choosing a difficult meter and rhyme-structure: the extra requirements tend to stimulate his or her creative juices.

However, as pressures continue to increase, what happens is exactly what you describe: thinking becomes overwhelmed, creativity falls, and people try to cope by cutting corners and taking greater risks.

It's what has caused a large part of the current financial crisis in the USA. Banks and hedge funds recruited highly talented people and set them to "discovering" ever more complex kinds of derivatives. At first, profits rose smartly because of this. But companies became greedy, wanting more and more profits in less and less time. The result: a mess of "smart" ways to make money that weren't.

What they were, in reality, proved to be nothing more than corner cutting on due diligence, frantic efforts to sell-on the loans before problems surfaced, and a system designed to confuse with fine-sounding phrases and incomprehensible mathematics.

As Peter says, life is choices — including the choice to kill the geese who lay the golden eggs to get at the eggs faster.

[Steve Roesler]

Peter,

It is, indeed, about choices. Which leads me to this potential scenario:

CEO's are charged with increasing and protecting shareholder value through responsible management of the total organization.

If a CEO--or any top executive--has access to the kind of public information I've shared here and:

1. Still chooses to push people too far, too fast

2. Which leads managers and employees to make less effective decisions on behalf of the company

3. Then is (s)he responsible for corporate malfeasance?

We're discussing all of this on a very human/humane level. What would happen if a gutsy law firm decided to go after a Board and its CEO based on this kind of behavior?

Could happen.

[Steve Roesler]

Carmine, so good to see you. I know how busy you've been with the upgrades and changes over at Slow Leadership.

Your take about the "begin" factor adds a new wrinkle here: the slippery-slope of talent corrupted by greed. When it starts off as a "We want to do a great job," the picture is, indeed, a rosy and healthy-looking one. When one adds
". . .and we'll do whatever it takes", the slope is covered with ice and the die is cast.

Thanks again...keep writing.

[David Zinger]

Steve:
I have a talent for stress, how did you get the picture of my office? Good points and when we get overloaded we often just try and keep plugging away rather than looking at how the flood is happening and what we can do about it.
David