Escaping Your Inner Instinct
Aside from surviving my own moments of personal growth (often when things didn’t go to plan), most of my development as a leader has come from conversations with peers, mentors, and role models. Over time, through these interactions, you start to see patterns. Things that are consistently present amongst those who inspire others, even amidst the most ambiguous and challenging times. I have learned that this trait is more than just optimism and natural charm. It is, in fact, whether they are consciously aware of it or not, a highly refined approach to risk and adversity that has enabled them to, quite literally, reshape their instincts.
We are programmed to survive.
The natural state of us as human beings is to survive. The inclination of humans to focus more on solving problems, risks, and negative aspects of their lives rather than concentrating on positive elements can be understood through various psychological theories and concepts. This phenomenon is deeply rooted in evolutionary psychology, cognitive biases, and the structure of human emotion and motivation.From an evolutionary perspective, this bias towards negativity can be seen as an adaptive strategy for survival.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs outlines that our most base instincts are self-preservation, without which early humans, who were more attuned to potential threats and risks in their environment, would not have survived. We sometimes refer to this as the ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ response. In reality, it is as simple as this: most people approach every situation with a primary focus on how it may harm them or their organization.
This ‘negativity bias,’ where negative events have a more significant impact on one's psychological state than positive events of equal intensity, is deeply ingrained. Cognitive psychology offers insights into this: The human brain is designed to solve problems, and this capacity has been crucial for developing tools, societies, and technologies. When faced with difficulties, humans engage in cognitive processes such as analysis, hypothesis testing, and planning.
This problem-solving orientation means that individuals are naturally inclined to identify and focus on issues that need resolution. Further, negative events elicit stronger and more immediate emotional responses than positive ones. These strong emotional reactions lead to rumination, where individuals analyze the scenario more deeply, further reinforcing it in their consciousness. As a result, people tend to overestimate the frequency and importance of negative events because these events are more memorable and more easily recalled.
Reshaping your instincts.
I was once in a regularly scheduled one-on-one with my manager. I had a laundry list of topics to discuss with them, primarily seeking alignment on required changes to address challenges in the business. After about 30 minutes of discussions, they paused and recommended we take a moment to step back. They recounted to me a personal experience of their own. They had once met with a very prestigious board member, only to hear at the end of the discussion how disappointed they were that the conversation only revolved around what wasn't working. The investor felt many other people were qualified to discuss these issues and that from now on, they wanted to focus their time together on reviewing what was working and how to build upon that success to accelerate growth.
My manager reflected that almost every meeting with their team that week (mine included) had been similar: focused on what wasn't working. Like their investor, they asked us to commit to a change and invert the focus. Instead of dedicating the lion's share of time to problems, we would time-box 20 minutes to discuss the most pressing challenges, and the remaining time to identify and scale success.
It took me a year or two to fully realize this pivot wasn’t just about time management; it was a fundamental shift in mindset that could enable the entire business to embrace people’s strengths and success.
Our own worst enemy.
Of course, you can’t overcome our evolutionary instincts overnight or with a simple shift in mechanisms. The human mind is so deeply programmed to survive that it actively adapts to positive events to diminish them over time in our memory.
Known as ‘hedonic adaptation,’ our brains are wired such that focusing on the same positive event will not maintain sustained happiness. People quickly become accustomed to positive changes in their lives, which then become the new normal. This adaptation mechanism means that even when positive events occur, their ability to shift overall attention away from negatives is limited in duration.
In the workplace, we see this in many areas. When employees receive positive changes in their work conditions—such as a promotion, salary raise, or improved working conditions—they typically experience an initial surge in job satisfaction and motivation. However, due to hedonic adaptation, this is often temporary as employees adjust, and the positive change becomes the new baseline. Over time, the novelty wears off, and the individual returns to their baseline level of happiness.
This cycle can quickly compound. As employees adapt to improvements, their expectations and aspirations also adjust upwards. This means that what once was a significant improvement becomes the new standard, leading to a continuous cycle of seeking further enhancements to maintain or increase satisfaction. This cycle can lead to a perpetual pursuit of more rewards, recognition, and improvements in working conditions, with diminishing returns on job satisfaction and emotional well-being and increased pressure on the business to deliver on these needs.
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The same is true for the greater business. It is easy to become dulled with past success, market strength, or hitting expected KPIs. Sooner or later, most discussions will fall back to a baseline focus, reducing risk exposure, operational excellence, or iterative improvements rather than true innovation and growth.
Enabling a cultural shift.
To counteract hedonic adaption, the entire workforce must shift its operating mentality. This requires a clear vision and ethos, strong operating and prioritization mechanisms, and a safe environment to call out and challenge trajectories that lead to mediocrity or maintaining the status quo. Business leaders should invest time in developing approaches best suited to their unique situations.
Some elements worth considering in this process include: how to ensure staff are challenged to grow in their skills along with the business activities, how to provide varied rewards that recognize and incentive accomplishments, how to empower autonomy and ownership to unlock entrepreneurial thinking within teams, and how to maintain clear communication and alignment from the top-down and bottom-up.
The most senior leaders must be role models in demonstrating these positive mindset systems. They must be visible and engaged. They must push conversations toward growth and success, and away from default instincts. They must recognize and reaffirm people's attempts to embrace the culture, even when failures occur. They must be open to feedback and willing to admit when they need a moment to step back and revisit their vision and outlook.
This shift is one of the hardest things people will ever do. It’s also something we will - at times - fail at. Things go wrong, sometimes spectacularly. We are human, and we will have emotional reactions, sometimes viscerally.? Creating an environment where this is okay, where others can pull you aside and support getting you refocused on what matters is crucial to a lasting cultural shift. It enables an environment where people are empathetic, forgiving, but resolute in helping to improve the next encounter or opportunity.
Accelerating change.
I’ll be honest. Staying focused on accelerating success is something I am still working on. I’m not sure I’ll ever be as grounded and focused as some people I work with, but it’s an inspiring goal to work towards!?
If you are looking for a mechanism or system that can help kick-start operational aspects of a success-oriented culture, there are a few:
A personal challenge.
There’s no silver bullet here. It’s a core shift in our instincts and lifelong commitment to how we interact with others. Every time we engage with a new situation will require something a little bit different from us.
From my own experience, recognizing there are always successes I am helping to manifest, rather than constantly fretting over the next pending disaster, is incredibly beneficial for my mental health. Something?that I think cascades in the form of increased patience, emotional intelligence, and active engagement in my relationships.
I encourage you to start small. In your next interactions, whether as a people leader or individual contributor, parent or friend, start your conversation with: ‘Hey, let’s not focus on the usual stuff today. Let’s talk about what’s going well. Where can we double down? How can I help?’