Cookie.
No, not really. Though I do want one. And warm bread. And muffins, the Morning Glory muffins from Hyperion.
No, I’m talking about change again. I think about change a lot. Why it is easier for some of us than others. Why some of us resist.
I’ve always thought I loved change. I moved every year of my early life, attending 13 schools in 12 years. I’ve had quite a few jobs, lived in many homes, and changed my name four times (long story).
Though Scientific American shared research that shows older folks resist change more than younger, I seem to thrive on it.
Yet, changing habits is difficult for me. I am trying desperately to shift my diet to non-gluten, non-dairy–and it’s hard. I struggle daily with choices before me, often rationalizing why I should just go ahead and eat that darn sandwich or pastry.
So when we ask teachers to shift their teaching practice, teach in ways that seem foreign or at times somewhat chaotic, I am not surprised when we get resistance.
Professor Robert Kegan says part of the problem is that we have “hidden commitments.”
They are brilliant behaviors, just exactly what you should be doing, in order to fulfill the hidden commitments — but these behaviors will also make it impossible to fulfill the visible goals. It is this combo of commitments that creates a single, powerful system — one foot on the gas pedal (the improvement goal) and one foot on the brakes (the hidden commitment). So the car doesn’t go anywhere.
Kegan says in a way it’s like an immune system that wants to protect us–but instead it’s failing us.
Our immune systems are founded on certain core beliefs which need to be examined. We call these our “big assumptions.” They are “big” because we are currently taking them as certain truths, not just assumptions, which may or may not be true.
His approach is to get people working together, reflecting upon the assumptions.
Our approach invites people to shift to an inquiring stance toward their big assumptions. They begin to run experiments of increasing size to see whether they should continue to hold their assumption exactly as they have, or whether it needs to come in for some modification. Even small modifications in the big assumptions can lead to very big changes along the lines of one’s original goal.
Sounds a lot like what we do in Powerful Learning Practice. I wonder how I can apply this to my diet?
Image credit: By bigbluemeanie