We’ve Always Done It That Way…
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I heard that phrase this week…. “We’ve always done it that way.”
It was interesting, in an academic way, to observe the group I was with in the aftermath of those words. I could actually see the body language of people change; people looking off screen, slumped shoulders, leaning back in their chairs. One sentence unintentionally stifled discussion and disempowered the team from being curious and creative.
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Something to consider…
I share the following story with new teams and leaders sometimes….
A scientist conducted an experiment in which they locked 5 monkeys in a room with a ladder. On the top of that ladder the scientist placed fresh bunch of bananas. Now every single time a monkey touched that ladder (because who wouldn’t climb a ladder for a delicious bananas?) the scientist would spray all 5 monkeys with ice-cold water.
After a while the monkeys learned their lesson and left the bananas alone!
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Not long after this, the scientist disabled the ice-water hose, and removed one of the monkeys- replacing it with a brand new one who had never been in that room before.
Seeing the delicious looking bananas on the ladder, the new monkey made a dash for the ladder. The 4 monkeys who had been in the room since the beginning immediately tackled the new monkey to keep it away from the ladder. Not a single spray of ice-cold water was needed, and the new monkey quickly learned it’s lesson. The scientist kept switching out the original monkeys, one at a time. Each time, the 4 monkeys tackled the new monkey the second it started toward the ladder for a banana.
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The scientist didn’t have to spray a drop of water!
After a while, all 5 of the original monkeys were gone, replaced by new monkeys. The bananas at the top of the ladder were ignored, and not a single monkey currently in the room had ever been sprayed with ice-cold water.
One of the values that we share as an agile minded team is we “relentlessly improve over settling for status quo,” yet it is so easy to fall back on “we’ve always done it that way.” As with the monkeys – sometimes we don’t even really know WHY we’ve always “done it that way!” Things change over time, and sometimes it feels like a risk to try something different, but BEING agile means that we challenge assumptions, and relentlessly look for ways to improve our products, our process, our systems and yes, even our thinking!
Something to try…
Look at “we’ve always done it that way” as an opportunity to learn. Instead of disengaging, be creative and curious!
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Teams – some questions you might try:
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“I’d like to better understand why it is we do it that way?”
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“When was the last time we tested these assumptions? What were the results?”
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“What are the risks that we might be taking by trying something different? Are these risks manageable?”
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“Is there some way we can test a different way of doing this to see if we achieve better results?”
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Leaders – some questions you might ask yourself:
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What can I do to help my team members feel safe to experiment?
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When was the last time we celebrated a new learning that came from failing?
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What have I done lately to model a growth mindset?
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Which of my team’s objectives challenge them to try different things?
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Often times there are very valid reasons for the “we’ve always done it that way,” or at least there used to be. Challenging assumptions and experimenting are not only how we use an agile mindset to create value -it’s also a great way to manage risk!
Don’t let your team fall into the “we’ve always done it that way” trap. Be curious! Be creative! Be agile!
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We all win together!
Coach Dan
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P.S. I have access to some really creative and talented people, so I crowdsource editing and creative improvements to these messages. In other words- it takes a village to make these messages consumable and (hopefully) useful, and this time around, my village included…
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Punit Kaur
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Kaity Kuzeljevic
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Stefanie Labranche
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J.C. Laven
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Pierre LeBlanc
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Molly Meyer
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Spoorthy Reddy Musku
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Thanks folks – you are all amazing human beings and I am grateful for your partnership!
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