Untangling Immunity to Change: Part 2

Last week we introduced the powerful Immunity to Change mapping process created by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey. 

We created a four-column template, and spent some time clarifying and articulating an observable behavior change goal, our Stated Commitment.

This week we move to column two. If you are following along, that column is already labeled “Doing / Not Doing,” but we offered no explanation for what that means.

You could also label column two “Self-Limiting Behaviors.” Identifying Self-Limiting Behaviors, those that we do instead of our column one Stated Commitment, is this week’s task.

Doing / Not Doing

Now, if you were already consistently doing your column one Stated Commitment, you wouldn’t need this process, so presumably you are doing something else instead. What is it?

Column two is straightforward. It is simply a list of those other things you are either doing or not doing that work against your Stated Commitment.

Your column two Self-Limiting Behaviors are a list of actions and non-actions that answer the following question:

What am I currently doing and not doing that works against fulfilling my column one commitment?

Although this is theoretically not complicated, it does require some objectivity, and that is not always easy when we are examining our own behavior.

For column two, you must take on the role of anthropologist. That word comes from combining the Greek anthrōpos, for “human” with logia, meaning “study of.” In this case, the anthrōpos you are studying is you!

So, clean the grime of good intentions off the mirror and take a good long look. Forget about what you think you should be doing or what you intended to do, and write down what you actually do or don’t do instead, relative to your column one Stated Commitment.

Getting Objective

Don’t be you. Be an anthropologist carefully studying you, notebook in hand, dispassionately documenting observable behavior.

Remember, you are recording cold, hard, objective data. Resist the urge to add explanations or new plans to fix the things you don’t like.

Check Your Work

Once you have written down what you are actually doing or not doing instead of your column one commitment, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are they behaviors?

Column two is a list of observable behaviors, not emotions or ways of being.

Let's say your stated commitment was “Give my direct reports more freedom and autonomy.”

• Behavior: I ask to review their work seven times an hour (something you are doing).
• Behavior: I never give them any assignments that are really important (an example of “not doing” that runs counter to your Stated Commitment).
• NOT Behavior: I freak out worrying that they are screwing it up (this is an emotion or way of being).
• Behavior: After I assign work to someone I spend the next hour thinking about exactly how they should do it (certain thoughts can still be a form of behavior)

2. Do they get in the way of the column one commitment?

This should be self-explanatory. Column two is a list of things you do instead of the thing you said you are committed to doing. These are the behaviors that get in the way of the change you are trying to make.

Column two does not need to be exhaustive. You just need to list enough behaviors to gain some objectivity. And it’s okay to laugh at yourself. Of all the species a scientist could observe, we are the strangest.

Common Problems

If you struggle to come up with behaviors, review the imaginary surveillance footage:

If you were to watch a video of yourself over the last two weeks, looking for examples of behaviors that work against my column one commitment, which moments would you point out?

We remember emotions more easily than events, so it is common to gravitate toward making a list of emotional states or ways of being. If that happens, ask yourself:

At that moment when I feel [scared / frustrated / angry /confused], what do I actually DO? What would someone else see if they were there?

Raw Data

That’s all there is to column two! These Self-Limiting Behaviors are the raw data we will use in the next column in our Immunity to Change map.

With your Stated Commitment defined in column one, and your Self-Limiting Behaviors data recorded in column two, you can now add a label to column three: Hidden Competing Commitments.

We will discover what those are and how to find them next week!

Until then,

Greg