Overcoming Immunity Changes

By Th Wiryawan
"The threat of death did not automatically make people change." The words sting out of the mouth of Prof. Robert Kegan, a character in the field of origin of Harvard University's leadership, while seminars and workshops for business people in Indonesia in Jakarta, 5-7 July. The survey results MvKinsey & Co., a leading strategic consulting firm, told the nearly 2,000 business executives worldwide is shocking and sad. Most of the investments which are given to make the change did not give the expected results even highly unsatisfactory.

Though the change is key to good organizational life and death of business organizations, political, social, etc.. Only from that organization can enhance its competitiveness, either through strategic initiatives such as six sigma, balanced scorecard, acquisition / merger, misi-visi-nilai/budaya organization, leadership development, knowledge management, and even more routine changes such as training / development. In fact, specifically for training / development. Statistics provided by the Center for Creative Leadership in the United States declared that the 88% investment in training and development fails to provide results.

There have been many approaches that are given to accelerate the pace of change. Starting from a touch of motivation, role models, reward, develop the capability to be able to perform the desired behavior, until the threats and punishments as well as many

support system organization formed to support it. However, the fact remains such as McKinsey's research results.

Professor Kegan, who examined this area more than 25 years, successfully demonstrated the greatest obstacle lies in the emotional side of change-psychological unconscious. Conflict between the change to be achieved and a large commitment in myself for not changing. Many people will be stunned when it is said that he has a huge commitment not to change. That's fair, because the commitment was hidden in the subconscious. It was like, the conscious mind trying to boost gas reaching changes, but the subconscious brakes to prevent the occurrence of deep change.

Why is that? This is the 'immunity of change. " The subconscious works like the immune system, duty filter and against the things that may be emotionally or psychologically threatening. Ditetapkanlah many automatic behaviors and actions that we do to our emotional stability maintained. And indeed if the immune system is functioning properly, emotional balance is achieved will help us to achieve the results we want.

The issue is in a state of change, the system is often considered the change as a threat. Similar immune substances fail to recognize that good for the body and instead attacked him causing disease. Because changes viewed as a threat, the immune changes that exert various actions that change was not achieved.

One interesting example of Kegan at once terrifying is the high-risk cardiac patients. From each of seven high-risk cardiac patients who required a doctor to change behavior in order to avoid the risk of deadly attacks, apparently only one had really changed. It was a serious threat of heart disease, but they have not changed. Not that they do not want to live healthy, pet grandchild or enjoying life. Not also do not understand the risk they face death. The doctors have told what they should do to change, so they know how. Basically, they've got all the elements that should be able to foster change, but in fact only one is changed. Other? They are gripped by a death threat immunity so that any changes do not make them flinch.
Organization did not escape from the clutches of the immune changes. John Kotter and McKinsey survey that prove it. Changing only one person is difficult, let alone change the organization comprised of many heads who have thoughts and interests differ.

If immunity is prevented from changing important goal we must achieve, would not want this system should be changed. Yet not necessarily we can change that system. First, because the system is in the subconscious, so we have to answer first to the surface. Second, because the system is, as said earlier, play an important role for emotional stability. Change can not just throw it away, but must use the right strategy to emotional stability was threatened.

For example, cases in a leading consulting firm. Senior executive team in there willing to form a culture of 'mutual trust and support' antarkonsultan. However, despite repeated conduct various training and activities and to form various systems, it still does not run smoothly antarkonsultan relationship. Formed a good condition, but soon the old behaviors again pushed and controlled processes in the company's relationships.

They then tried to handle the situation through changes in immunity approach, using a four-step process that introduced Robert Kegan. First, determine the commitment of the desired changes. For example, 'establish a culture of mutual trust and mutual support'. The most important thing in the first step is commitment to change to be achieved must be the commitment of significant value, and even better if this commitment is difficult to achieve change or have long sought but always fail or relapse back to old behaviors.

Second, make a list of actions that hinder the achievement of objectives and actions that should be done, but not done. However, rather than those actions that changed. What is important in this method is that we explore further because it acts merely a symptom of a deeper change in immunity.

Trying to change those actions without digging further immunity similar to hot-lowering medication for fever without curing the cause of his fever, which is an infection in the body. In general, other methods will try to directly modify the actions in this second step. A simple example is the diet. Many people fail on diets, although they tried hard. There are successful, but only briefly. After some time, their weight go back to its original, even more.

Third, dig 'commitment penanding' which becomes the door opener to the changes in immunity. That commitment makes a person or organization doing the actions that sabotage their own goals. It is important to remember that commitments were partly derived from our emotional immunity, to protect us from emotional dangers that we think we may have, and so far has been successful enough to bring us to the point that we have achieved today. However, the commitment was not in accordance with what we want for the future, that's why this commitment to create actions that try to thwart the achievement of our goals.

Fourth, find the assumptions underlying the commitments. The occurrence of these commitments are due to blind assumptions, ie assumptions that are considered true without question. In some cases, this assumption is even been overpaid for years. And assumptions that became the core of the immune changes. If the process does not touch down to change the assumptions, ie, to determine whether this assumption is correct or not, these assumptions will continue to bring the various actions that hinder the achievement of objectives.

Failure to deal with change is a common face, and raises the cost of very expensive, even sometimes the result is that losses and bankruptcies. Almost all organizations and all leaders must have felt the difficulty of change. Process changes that seem easy on paper, is considered sufficient to conduct training and some additional activities, there are many who are constrained by these immune changes.
Therefore, to overcome immunity changes will allow the organization to achieve the changes that are important to them
done, more quickly and efficiently so that they spend on investment is not in vain.

By Th Wiryawan, practitioners in finance and insurance

(mediaindonesia.com)