Overcoming Resistance

Early in life my father gave me a “left-handed” gift; he always called me “lazy.”   When I was young, my father nor my teachers ever praised me, nor encouraged me; only criticized.   I could have easily taken the easy path and turned out to be a “bum.”  But, most fortunately, I somehow overcame their negativity and fought back and was able to slowly over the years find a way to grow and change for the better.

Look, you don’t need a father or past teacher to hold you back; your mind always does a good enough job.   Believe me whenever you want to do something new and change a pattern, your mind will always tell you not to do it. (“My boss wouldn’t approve” is a favorite mental phrase, or I got through yesterday without changing – why rock the boat today?”)

I want to exercise every single day, but somehow I can always find some excuse not to do it.  It is true for so many other things I would like to do.  But, when at work if you and your company want to succeed in today’s highly competitive world market, you must find new ways to improve and do things differently.

Isaac Newton, said, “For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.”  It is a law of physics.  Every time you want to change the mind will say, “Don’t do it.”  And, so people sit, often afraid to change, waiting for some outside force to gently "push" them to change.

Hiroshi Okuda, former chairman of Toyota, said, “Failure to change is a vice!  I want everyone at Toyota to change and at least don’t be an obstacle for anyone else that wants to change.”  Ah, but how do you get people to change?

Look, the role of a leader, you or your boss, must be to urge and challenge people around you to change and grow every single day.  When you tell them to change, they have very little choice.   You are paying them to do the job in the best possible way.  You do have the right to demand that people change the way they work for the better.  You can be the force to overcome resistance.

I once saw a crocus, in the early spring, break through a paved driveway.  Somehow the flower forced itself through the tar.  It was an important symbol for me that with determination I could do almost anything I wanted to do in this lifetime.  I don’t need to carry the impressions of my father or my teachers anymore.

So, as Dr. Shingo would always say, “Do it!”