Identify & Change Detrimental Company Habits

I hate waking up in the morning.

Even since I was six years old, I struggled with the act of waking up and physically getting out of bed. I vividly remember laying in my catholic school uniform in the morning and being so tired.
I remember my mom telling me, “you have got to get up and get ready“.

To this day, waking up is something that truly hurts my soul.
The bed is so warm. I am so comfy. Why, oh, why do I have to start my day?

The thing is, I’ve formed a habit. The habit of NOT getting up and staying in bed is something that is ingrained into my routine.

I’ve been diving deep into habits lately and why I do the things I do. I’ve learned I am not consciously choosing to do most of them. They are patterns I follow day in and day out. My mind knows I will do them and don’t need to think about them.

This is why it’s so hard to break them.

 As I learn more about habits and how they show up, I’m thinking about how they show up at workplaces. What habits are established, and how hard are they to change?

Organizations have many habits that have been formed over time and are very hard to change. They may be good habits, like celebrating new sales together, or not-so-great habits, like shaming people when they make mistakes. Either way, they are there, and as business leaders, it is our job to embrace the good ones and eliminate the bad ones.

But habits are so hard to change, right?

Believe it or not, they aren’t hard to change. But it does take time and diligence to do so.

Here are my quick tips for habit-busting in your company.

1) Identify the bad ones. The ones that leave people feeling awful are usually a good place to start. The habits that people make jokes about but really don’t think are that funny.

2) Ask others what one small step can be taken to change this pattern of behavior. Starting small is key because big audacious goals and habit-changing do not belong together.

3) Try it out. Pilot new ways of approaching the same challenges or opportunities. If it doesn’t work, you haven’t really lost anything because the old way isn’t working either. Be open to new patterns and new processes. 

If you are uncomfortable with this, it means you are on the right track. Great things happen when we get out of our comfort zone. 

Lauren Williams, Founder & Principle Consultant

Lauren Williams utilizes her 20 years of expertise in HR to support companies by improving and enhancing their people skills/operations, maximizing a company’s full potential. With care and passion, she focuses intently on the employee experience and how to leverage a solid community-based company culture that encourages organic employee engagement, retention, and empowerment.