The human brain has a tremendous ability to conserve energy. New experiences and tasks increase our cognitive load and this can make us tired. If we experience lots of change in a short period of time, it requires more energy for system 2 thinking (conscious thought). For example, try taking a completely new route to work or to visit a family member. Even with the help of a sat nav, you will notice that a higher level of concentration is required. After you have done this a few times, it becomes ‘second nature’ and we have more mental capacity to spare. It can also become ‘boring’ to us, especially with repetition, causing our own personal Groundhog Day and we want to get it over with. Today, we discuss taking responsibility when we develop bad habits at work.
Taking responsibility
It goes without saying that people have responsibilities at work. Those tasks and activities that you work on are part of the role that you were hired to do. Without your effort to complete those tasks, they would either not get done or your colleagues would need to do them. The dictionary definition of responsibility is ‘something that it is your job or duty to deal with’.
“something that it is your job or duty to deal with”
More generally, responsibility refers to good judgment and the ability to act correctly and make decisions on your own. This would describe a person who is responsible, perhaps someone that you would trust to get something done for you and do it correctly without supervision. Crucially, taking responsibility means to own that very activity that is your job to deal with and to carry it out with good judgement.
In summary, although responsibility can be used as a noun for blame, we would prefer to use accountability to describe this in a work context. Accountability is defined as ‘the fact of being responsible for what you do and able to give a satisfactory reason for it, or the degree to which this happens’. This clears the way for responsibility to focus on tasks and the way you go about completing those tasks to a good standard.
Developing bad habits at work
First of all, nobody is perfect. Secondly, what we think is a well-handled situation or a great piece of work is both contextual (our perspective on the circumstances) and subjective (unless the framework for performance is very clear). Thirdly, habits are our mental shortcuts and they can be changed, with a little effort.
There are various estimates out there for how long it takes to develop a habit. For simple behaviours, some estimate about 3 weeks of repetition for this to become ‘routine’ behaviour. Others suggest 66 days to form a habit. Ultimately, it depends on both the complexity of the behaviour and the level of reward that our brain receives for doing it. According to Professor Brian King, “There are too many unknown variables, and so it is simply an incalculable equation.”[i] We do not know exactly how long a bad habit takes to form.
Habitual shortcuts
What we do know is that a simple and repetitive task quickly becomes ‘boring’ and provides less ‘reward’ hormones to the brain (see below). The value of the reward variable is, in most circumstances, unknown. Without this intrinsic motivation, simple tasks that we are responsible for may not be completed to the standards that colleagues or customers non-consciously expect (subjective and contextual). The bad habits and shortcuts that we have accrued are tough to break and we are consciously unaware of them. Additionally, without regular feedback and persistent effort to make change, the task becomes stale, sub-optimal and unrewarding (physiologically and emotionally).
The simple, rewarding habits are already quickly learned. This could include greater use of ‘shortcuts’ to finish tasks early, reducing the neural load. There is a neurological ‘incentive’ to skip parts of the process to make our lives easier. Once these bad habit shortcuts become routine, they are hard to break, even with good intentions. So, what do we do about it?
Breaking bad habits at work
Once a habit has become ‘automatic’, how do we break it? According to Professor King, “Any lasting behavioural change from this point forward is going to take work, and a lot of repetitions.” Put simply, it is hard. We will need to repeat a behaviour many times for it to become a new habit. We also need to identify the root cause(s) and eliminate the trigger(s) to make the transition easier. Furthermore, we may consider how we build intrinsic motivation to incentivise different behaviour(s).
We have talked at length about what employees look for in work. The current thinking is that today, more people seek purpose and value in their work. They want what they do to mean something, deliver some social value, make the world better. Beyond financial measures, employees are looking for motivators i.e. things that give them a rewarding (mentally) experience. This in turn releases the ‘good’ reward hormones which are endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. Sadly, this is also an area that is regularly overlooked and managers expect staff to “do the job”. What they lack is the support to break the cycle.
Good habits at work mean less re-work, less conflict and less criticism. A job well done, a task fully completed, a customer completely satisfied. Sometimes, we need to help the managers to achieve this with the support, resource and skills to change. Ultimately, don’t we all want a great employee experience and rewarding job roles?
Inspiring change to take responsibility
Think Beyond support organisations and businesses with change. We help you to create an inspiring vision, improve your processes and transform your organisation. Whether via strategic planning, continuous improvement or organisational design, we can support an efficient organisation. Crucially, your people, processes, systems and partners are what matters. Helping people to develop good habits and to manage change is what we do.
If you would like to book an appointment with one of our consultants, please send us your requirements. Alternatively, simply email us at sales@think-beyond.co.uk to find out more.
Finally, why not check this article on the importance of culture in the workplace.
[i] https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/taking-it-easy/202001/how-long-does-it-take-form-new-habit