In the previous post, " The KPI conundrum – Part 2: Revolutionising KPIs in Mining through Focus on Leverage Points", we identified a different way to use KPIs. But adjusting activity and systems to align with the new focus requires behavioural change, and practical experience shows that most conventional change management programs do not work.
Do you believe you could change if you were on a burning platform?
For example, imagine a knowledgeable, respected doctor advising you that it's crucial to make substantial and lasting shifts in your lifestyle; otherwise, you will die within a few years of heart disease. Would you be able to change?
The statistics say you would not.
The conventional approach to motivating heart patients, focusing on fear of death, has proven ineffective. For example, 90% of patients who undergo coronary-artery bypass grafting fail to change their lifestyles two years after the surgery. This is after being told that failure to change would cause their death. This resistance to change is not only prevalent in healthcare but also in businesses facing a turbulent world.
Dr Dean Ornish, a professor of medicine, has found success in helping heart patients change their behaviour. He realised that emotional persuasion was essential for change, going beyond just providing health information. Ornish's holistic program, which emphasises a low-fat vegetarian diet and incorporates psychological, emotional, and spiritual dimensions, has been shown to reverse heart disease without surgery or drugs.
In a trial involving 333 patients with severely clogged arteries, 77% of them adhered to Ornish's program after three years, avoiding expensive bypass or angioplasty surgeries.
Ornish's program reframes the issue from "fear of dying" to the "joy of living," emphasising the potential for improved quality of life. Additionally, he discovered that radical, sweeping changes were often more manageable for people than small, incremental ones. Patients on his program experienced a 91% decrease in chest pain frequency in the first month, which acted as a powerful motivator.
The key lies in understanding that people's behaviour is driven more by emotions than by rational thought. People often resist change, even when it is in their best interests, because they are locked into certain mental frameworks. To change behaviour, leaders must reframe the issue, connecting with people's emotions and presenting a compelling vision that inspires action.
In a later blog post, we will discuss how to create a change platform (not a change program) that addresses these drivers to enable the flow chart shown in our previous post" The KPI conundrum – Part 2: Revolutionising KPIs in Mining through Focus on Leverage Points"
See the Dean Ornish article here: Https://https://lnkd.in/e6Zz7Jq
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