Are you disturbed?

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Are you disturbed?

by Elaine Rogers on January 22nd, 2010
24 Comments

It’s amazing how a disturbance can unsettle us.

I was just admiring my garden yesterday morning while having an espresso. I was noticing the devastation that challenged me for the “Big clean up” after the adverse weather conditions we had experienced over the past 6 weeks. A blackbird caught my eye – he was busily upturning leaves, looking for breakfast.

“Ah”, I thought, “things are back to normal.” The air is calm, the garden is green, and the temperature reads a satisfying 9^o. Then I remembered the behaviour of the birds over the last 3 weeks. They demonstrated odd behaviour, each breed of bird acting differently to its normal “carry on”, what I would consider “out of character”.

The blackbirds were actually tolerating each other, vying for food from the bird table. The small birds were acting like children in the snow. But most surprisingly was the visit by 3 seagulls. This amazed me, as I live 30 miles from the nearest coastline as the crow (or seagull) flies.

My point, you ask? These habitual and territorial creatures were acting completely out of character, when a difficult situation presented itself. First reaction was absolute shock! “What is going on – how can this happen to us?”

Next, denial! “It will be over in a few days, I get to have a snow day”

Then we move on to blame “Where are the snowploughs when you need them?, Where is our Minister of Transport?”, “How can we run out of water?”, “Why is my footpath not salted?”

It’s amazing how creatures of habit can then hit desparation. The internet is overwhelemed with blogposts (including this one) about the snow, the ice, the roads, etc etc.

And finally! We begin to do something. We look at the micro picture and realise we can ease the hardship on a smaller scale – we start doing things for ourselves, and the world changes!

But best of all, we stop complaining, and start passing on advice as to what worked (cinders on the ice, blow-torching the pipes, looking out for the elderly).

Now read this article again, replacing the word bird with manager or employee.

Have you experienced situations where people react to difficult conditions? Some disintegrate, some shine! We are creatures of habit, and take a while to warm to change.

Category: HR and recruitment

Tags: change, disturbance, motivation, organisation, organising, people, People management, people matter, performance, personal development

The Author: Elaine Rogers

Elaine Rogers is a Business Training & Development Specialist. She provides training and coaching in the areas of IT Skills, Business Skills, and Soft Skills. Elaine has just launched a new online training store at http://www.thesmarttrain.com that provides videos and workshops in the areas of IT, Business and Soft Skills. http://www.thesmarttrain.com

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http://www.channelship.ie/blog/ fred

Love your analogy Elaine. Great post.
I believe it’s just the fact that people don’t like “change”, period. I’ll give you a very silly example: When working at an office, how many times you’ve seen pretty much everybody around you complaining becase they “had to move seats”? Moving desks is something normal! especially in bigger companies. I always wondered, if people give out about such a simple thing, I don’t want to know what’s like facing a real problem…
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http://twitter.com/IrishSmiley Frederique Murphy

Elaine, great post and love the fresh angle!

I have been working in Change Management for the last 8 years, so a lot of the things you are saying resonate with me. As a consultant on a Change project or programme, I really believe that we excel at our job by accepting that human resist change, it is normal and it is part of our job to tackle this. Accepting this well know fact, makes it easier for us to plan a strategy on how to smooth things and to manage the change. )
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

Fred, thanks for the comments.
For some, a change of seat/desk can literally boot them out of their comfort zone – all sorts of things are implicated: they have to make new acquaintances, they may end up beside someone who intimidates or belittles them, they wont have the benefit of a view of the whole office or outside, they may end up closer to the “boss” etc etc. Its taken as such a personal thing because at the end of the day, it’s all about us! if we begin to look more “outward”, we may see the upsides to moving (the opposites of the earlier suggestions). Good example, as it resonates a lot of common “change” implications.
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

Hi Frederique,
Thank you for your insight. Certainly for those implementing the change, would do well do realise that changes always provokes resistance. Even when the current situation is intolerable. some adopt the attitude “better the divil you know”. But as you will appreciate, this is not conducive to progress. It’s OK to feel threatened, but it’s important for staff/Managers to accept that in most cases, the changes will have positive benefits for all concerned. Feel the fear, and go along with it anyway
(actually this inspires a conversation around trust, as lack of trust generates fear – idea growing for another post)
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Elaine, like this a lot! it is so so true. Change equals pain for so many of us but It’s also a fact of life and business. Realising what’s actually happening is the first step towards making change a successful and even pleasant experience. Have a great weekend, Niall
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Anonymous

This nice article puts me in mind of an art workshop I was doing once. I was trying to concentrate, be ‘creative’ and produce something worthwhile. Then someone put some music on. I complained and said:”this music is really disturbing me.” My friend replied: “That’s what it’s meant to do.” A little light went on in my head, and I thanked him.

:0)
http://www.channelship.ie/blog fred

Hi Elaine. I just read this post by Seth Godin… think it’s a great complement http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/quieting-the-lizard-brain.html
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

lol – I came across this today – think it explains human nature to a tee –
“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.”
(Thanks to Mairead Kelly on Facebook)
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

That’s a great post by Seth – lot of common sense there and a lot of us don’t even realise that we are sabotaging our own efforts. I call it “getting in our own way”. I spent a lot of time over past few years getting out of my way – just did again the other day. It’s such a relief when we finally do it
Now, just waiting for the same 1000 re-tweets his post got
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

Music, in my mind, solves everything – except concentration – doh!
There is music every day in my house, except when I am working at home. It comes on when I need just that – a distraction. And it plays every weekend without fail, just listening to Carlos Santana now
http://www.channelship.ie/ Fred

Nice one Barney.
I highly, highly recommend a book for designers and non-designers to understand better “the message blended with design”. It’s called: “Don’t make me think” by Steve Krug.
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks Fred. And thanks for the recommended reading too – will look that one up!
http://www.wchingya.com wchingya

A very good reminder. I particularly agree with “What is the point in having pretty wrappings if you are not tempted to unwrap what’s inside?”. Important as it is for a design to look catchy, no point if it runs off the purpose of having one.
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks for reading – glad it was a reminder
http://www.codegaconsulting.com/ Una Coleman

A great idea never outweights great management to execute it! An outsider’s perspective – let’s call it marekt research – is essential to verify the product market opportunity. Many thanks for this piece Barney.
http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

Hi Barney,

Its only human to be attracted to something pretty. Our nature is visual, so I agree that an offering should display a visual eye-catching message.
But not at the expense of the basics. Mobile phones are a good example…..that flashy, sexy styling with cute buttons in reality has buttons too small to press, a complicated menu structure and a scratchable surface. The importance of function and simplicity can be missed by shallowless.
Like the last line!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks for reading Una. I like that “great idea never outweighs great management to execute it”
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks for reading Christina. Mobile phones are a great example – fair play!
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

Have you ever let your ego over-rule what you should have done and suffered as a consequence?
???
Absolutely NOT – KISS my Amazingly Smart Smile
http://e-turnall.com/ Eric J

Hi Barney. This is my first time here so I’ve been looking around and found your article. Nice! I especially like the question you posed on whether or not a person let their ego over-rule what they should have done. I, and I’m sure others, have been down that road at least once. The lesson is to not let it happen too many times (smile). Thanks for sharing.
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Welcome Eric. Thanks for the comment – and you are quite right, once or twice might be ok – but not too many times!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Great to hear from the only person on the planet who has not succumbed to ego for the worse . Thanks for reading.

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