It is proved that putting change into effect means that the person or the team who must operate the change is going from the comfort zone to the performance zone.

As already explained widely in the preview of the book “Team Building for Lean Production” (see banner here below), the comfort zone can be defined as the combination of ways of thinking and habits that a person or a work team has no interest in changing.

The difficulties of a manager to trigger the change are greater when the comfort zone has become solidified over time.

In the comfort zone people are attached to points of view and ideas which prevent finding innovative solutions, therefore blocking the continuous improvement of the company standards.

Fuel for changecarburante team building

Breaking obstructive ideas and creating new ones, requires a fuel made of:

  • Motivation.
  • New skills.

In regards to motivation, this is created by mixing ideas with the reverse polar force, such as:

  • Wanting to reach a state of wellness which is more gratifying than the current one.
  • Avoiding unpleasant or painful situations in the future.

The manager, an alchemist of motivation

One of the main instruments for creating the motivational fuel is that of establishing shared objectives with indicators for clear results.

The activation of objectives and indicators will cause in the collaborators:

Motivation for “going towards”

Motivation “avoiding to…”

Excitement for the challenge and achieving the objective.

Fear of being judged by one’s manager for being incapable of achieving the objective.

Alliance with the colleagues to help each other mutually in reaching the objective.

Fear of losing one position and image in the company.

Searching for innovative solutions in reaching the objective.

Anxiety from being pointed out by one’s colleagues for not being able to reach the objective/s.

 

The motivational fuel can explode

If the objectives are constructed badly and they are not shared with one’s collaborators this surely leads to destructive effects contrary to those desired.

Establishing too high of an objective, creates the idea that it is impossible to reach it and even if accepted at the start, the moment that the team realizes that it is impossible to achieve this will create demotivation and resignation.

In contrast, establishing too easy an objective does not create the energy necessary to exceed the comfort zone.

The improper use of motivational factors can lead a team from its “comfort zone” to a “danger zone” in which performance crumbles, distrust in the company takes over and in this situation any change project will fail.

The damnation of the manager

A manager who completely fulfills his role and his responsibility continuously strives to have the company reach always better levels of performance.

He cannot avoid looking for improvement, this means that the focus of his work activity is often brought to having his collaborators exceed their comfort zone.

To fulfill this, as previously explained above and in the preview of the book “Team Building for Lean Production” he must surely be an expert of the “comfort zone” phenomenon and an alchemist of motivation.

Mario Mason
Kaizen Coach