UNDERSTANDING AND CHANGING YOUR BEHAVIOUR:
AN ACTION LEARNING PROJECT
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The behaviour I wish to change for this change project is reducing the frequency in which I get on the coach and deciding to walk more i.e. “less bus, more walk”. It sounds easy but it’s a lot more complex, because it changes everything; from sleeping to waking times and diets intake to cost saving from not going to the gym.
Assessing against the S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) criteria approach to analyze the change, you can say the change was :
SPECIFIC: The change was quite specific, precise ,observable and easy to define. It had specific objectives, which was simply to improve my self esteem and other benefits arising from health and fitness issues.
Measurable: It was quantifiable in the sense that I would easily know if I achieved my set objectives or not because there are evidences to show.
Achievable : This is clearly linked to measurability. Usually, there is no point in starting a job you know you cannot finish or one that you cannot tell if/when you have finished it. It also has to do with the resources required, and I knew I had the resources required for the exercise which were basically the drive to do it and my “legs”.
Realistic: The change project was realistic for me because it fitted/i made it fit into my daily routines, also, I had the resources and opportunity to do it.
Timely: This simply means setting deadlines, I had one which was three (3) months from the start date, otherwise my objectives would not be measurable. My deadlines were realistic too, otherwise my task would not had been realistic (Andrew, 2009)
For changes to occur, it was necessary for me to unfreeze the forces restraining the change, after identifying the restraining forces against the changes. Field theory as postulated by Lewin (1943 cited in Burnes, 2009) is an approach to understanding individual/group behaviour by identifying and mapping the totality and complexity of the field in which the behaviour takes place. He went further to say that to understand any situation, it was necessary that one should view the current situation i.e. the current status” as been maintained by certain conditions or forces. This means that the current status is maintained because the driving forces are in balance with restraining forces for change. Consequently, for any successful change to occur, the change agent has to put certain mechanisms in place to either reduce the restraining forces or increase the driving forces (Lewin, 1974a cited in Burnes 2009). Lewin (1974a cited in Burnes 2009) is of the view that if one could identify, plot and establish the potency of these forces , then it would be possible not only to understand why individuals ,groups and organisations, behave as they do but what forces would need to be diminished or strengthened to bring about change.
restraining forces, especially in terms of wanting to maximize my yearly student Bus-Ticket. Initially, I had felt I paid too much for the student yearly bus-pass -�180, and since I could not change the price the next thing I felt was ideal to do was to maximize it; So I would get on the bus at every opportunity, even if I am to walk for a few minutes. Change was only possible, when I decided to deliberately undermine all my restraining forces especially the cost of the ticket, therefore strengthening my driving forces. I also considered Lewin (1946) Three-steps model in achieving the change. Fig 2.1 (Lewin,1946)
FREEZING: Here, Lewin (1946) is of the view that, for successful change to occur, the current status (equilibrium) needs to be destabilized (unfrozen) before old behaviour can be discarded (unlearnt) and new behaviour successfully adopted. This was achieved through:
* Creating dissatisfaction with the existing situation
* Creating willingness to change
MOVING: This is concerned with reinforcement, where individuals and groups move from a less acceptable to a more acceptable sets of behaviours . Without this, change could be short-lived. This was also achieved through:
* Identifying and implementing the change
* Involvement of friends and family
REFREEZING: The stage of the three-step model seeks to stabilize the individual/group at a new quasi-stationary equilibrium in order to ensure that new behaviours are relatively safe from regression.Finally, I was able to easily do this through:
* Maintaining the momentum
* Setting a goal and striving to achieve it
* Having some form of rewards and feedback
This model of change recognizes the need to discard old behaviour, structures, processes and culture before successfully adopting new approaches (Bamford and Forrester, 2003)
3.0 ESTABLISH A BASELINE
For the change project, i decided to start by walking for some few minutes , about 10-15mins daily, before achieving the desired goal of about 45mins to one hour daily.
Since I go to the university almost every day, the initial plan was to either walk to school from the house everyday or alternatively, walk from school which was not really a good option considering fatigue after lectures. The baseline could be summarized as follows: Fig. 3.1
FREQUENCYEveryday Mon-Friday including weekends
DURATION15-20 minutes daily, with the aim of increasing to 45mins to 1 hour
4.0 TARGETS AND MONITORING
This was also easy and achievable due to the fact that, the change project was carefully planned, targets set and evaluated before the project was embarked upon. It was easy to be monitored because, it was very precised, observable and did not require extra/external resources to do it. Fig. 4.1
| WEEKS | TARGETS | RESULTS ACHIEVED IN % based on observation |
| 1-4 | 15-20Mins walk daily | 75% |
| 5-8 | 20-30Mins walk daily | 80-86% |
| 8-12 | 45-1hr daily walk | 95-100% |
| 12 till date | 1hr daily walk | 100% |
5.0 REWARDS AND PUNISHMENT
For this project, i decided not to have any rewards clearly written out because I did not have such luxury. Also, I felt I was rewarding myself enough, by embarking on the change project, the satisfaction derived from an improved self esteem, feeling more in control, feeling better and the confidence derived was enough reward (I felt I could change the world and that was satisfying).
Also, I could not come up with any adequate punishment, because i am not really addicted to anything- food, smoking, drinking, watching TV e.t.c. so depriving myself from any of these would not serve its purpose . What I did generally, anytime I fail to keep to the new routine was to deliberately get off the coach 2-3 stops after my destination, which worked; because it really hurts -going forward only to come back.
From the above analysis, it would be established that, carrying out the change project cannot be separated from getting the benefits and punishments as well .Administering the reward was instantaneous, and more of an internal experience. Punishment was also immediate, and it was every time I faulted the planned routine, save for extreme conditions.
6.0 DO, REVIEW AND AMEND
The last stage of the change project was to have a constant improvement process examination using the Deming cycle of Plan , Do, Check and Act.
DO
Here, the main activity was developing a sense of urgency, creating a vision and a sense of direction in achieving the change project and evaluating results. Other activities includes
* Selecting the most appropriate approach to achieving my objective and implementing it
* Draw internal motivation to succeed
* Mobilize energy and commitment through identification of problems and their solutions
* Creating a direction and following it
REVIEW
* Measurement of performance and comparing results against the expected results to ascertain any differences.
* Starting the change project at a periphery and pushing it to cover more grounds
* Constant tracking on metrics and predetermined baseline (Monitoring and Control)
* Adjusting strategies in response to problems encountered in the change process
ACT
* Analyzing differences to determine their cause and fixing it
* Performance measurement and improvement tracking
* Ensuring continuous performance
* Focusing on the results, not on activities
* Continuous improvement actions
The Do, review, act cycle was to ensure that the improvement achieved in the early stages of the change project were held in place and sustained.
7.0 CONCLUSION AND FINAL REMARKS
The change project was/ has been a total success till date, it was initially difficult to have these changes because of its influence on other established patterns, I had to change my sleeping and waking time to meet established demands and appointments. The change project initially failed because I tried fitting new developments into existing patterns, also, I wanted to achieve immediate results, I tried having a punctuated equilibrium .i.e. starting the process and getting results immediately, I had little or no success but when I decided to start all over again by deliberately implementing the change incrementally, I had success. This is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig 7.1 below
One lesson I learnt was the fact that things would definitely gets worse before getting better and also, the fact that incremental changes are likely to yield positive results than punctuated equilibrum
REFERENCES
Bamford, D. R. and Forrester, P.L. (2003) ‘Managing planned and emergent change within an operations management environment’, International Journal of operations & Productions Management, 23(5), pp546-564
Bell, A. (2004) Ten steps to S.M.A.R.T objectives
Available from: www.natpact.nhs.uk [assessed on: 19/4/2010],
Burnes, B. (2009) Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics,
5th (ed). London, Prentice Hall
Deming, W.E.(1986).Out of the Crisis. MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study.
ISBN0-911379-01-0
Lewin, K. (1947a) Frontiers in group dynamics: Field theory in Social Science. London, Social Science Paperback