The Human Factor

As a facilitator and trainer, one of the biggest obstacles my colleagues and I come across are habits. Good or bad they can impede success and prevent progress. We are creatures of habits in the end. All very different, but same in the way - we either accept or deny change. My job as a trainer is to find a way to affect change in order to drive results. Above all foster success in process improvement.

In my years of experience I have always struggled with a methodology that does not account for the greatest factor, the human factor. This factor can make or break the entire process and it's often ignored when considering implementation. In my earlier years I fought the process every step of the way. Especially when feedback from those in the trenches, would have had an exponential effect on the processes - I'll digress.

Fighting the process gets you nowhere fast, this is something you realize after banging your head against the wall. Something I did in my earlier years, which I can attribute to the "petulance of youth." Pretty sure we can all agree on experiencing this phenomenon earlier in our careers.

It took a while for me to recognize that "Uncle Scrooge" from Duck Tales was absolutely right. You see not a day went by where he didn't remind Huey, Dewey, and Louie to work "smarter not harder." This is by far my most important mantra. One that I preach in my training classes, in order to drive results.

In today's connected world, it seems no matter how early we rise to get the worm. There is never enough time to accomplish everything we set out to do. Since I consider myself one of the ones "in the trenches." I always remind myself what it was like to be in those shoes; experiencing the frustrations of a new process and or methodology that is being implemented.

With that in mind, I look to simplify things as much as possible. I do this by creating small task which can be accomplished. Whether it's making five cold calls, reading five emails, or just cleaning my desk. These micro goals helped me succeed in life - as cliche as it sounds - one step at a time. Coincidentally the New York Times recently published an article on "Micro-Progress and the Magic of Just Getting Started."

I'm ardent in my belief that the better we understand our own behaviors; the better our days, months, years and lives will be. Turns out that completing tasks helps with our confidence, which ultimately boost our overall self-esteem, making us shiny happy people. This is of the utmost importance, especially in the workplace and even more profound at home in our personal lives.

For example - ever come back from vacation all energized to sit at your desk, and get completely discouraged with the several hundred unread emails, reminders, and worse, task that need to be completed?

The ripple effect this has on our day can be cataclysmic. Some will drill down and get through it, some will smoke the task, others will walk away and work on something else, ignoring the 552 unread emails which contained deadlines and or notices pertinent to your role, moreover your companies sustainability.

Who has the time right, more importantly where do we begin? Seems this has become the conundrum of the millennium in the information age?

It is this very same reason why I remind the people I am training, to start their day with a simple task. Don't look at anything else, go strait to your task, and complete it before you move on. I know it's easier said then done - but this can and will - change your outlook for the day. We all have an inherent trait to succeed, the question is not how, but what is preventing us - other than time?

Just the other day I had a conversation with a colleague regarding behavior. I said it was profoundly ironic that everyone talks about behavior but fails to analyze their own behavior. We are all guilty of this, some more than others. It's always easier to point the finger, and pass the blame - than accepting responsibility for your actions. An issue that waste valuable resources both at work and in our personal lives.

What are you doing to asses your behavior? Change cannot be forced upon us, it comes from within. We must embrace change which ultimately helps us evolve and become more successful.

This starts with the person in the mirror. So before you are quick to pass the blame, stop and think how your behavior is adding to the human factor? The greatest equation of all...

Carpe Diem!