At What Would Dad Say… today in the post … Past Has a Vote, Not a Veto, GL quoted the following from David Maister’s, Passion, People, and Principles in a post titled… Life Could Be Better:
“You hear a lot of people saying things like these:
-- We’re too busy doing the wrong things to have time to do the right things
-- We’ve got so many of the wrong people in the key positions that we can’t get the right people appointed 
--We've got too many of the bad clients to serve that we don’t have the time to get the good clients
-- We’ve been known as people who do X for so long, that no-one will believe that we now do Y
-- I’m stuck doing stuff I hate but I can’t afford to quit
-- He / She’s never going to change, so why bother? “
This list reminded me that change is not simply an external challenge… but is also a delightful puzzle for the brain too. Here’s why. Your brain works daily from a rather small working memory daily – and let’s say you hear a great idea for change. It will be replaced in your small working memory by the very next good idea that floats by! See it as a small wine glass and each time new wine is poured in the older wine is replaced or spills out.
So how does any lasting change occur?
The key is to get the change over into your brain's bigger ... and easier to use ... basal ganglia so that it stays with you and grows into a doable and lasting event.
How do you get from working memory to basal ganglia – in ways that ensure change?
1. When you hear a great idea find a very doable strategy to USE that idea in a practical way. Then repeat that use daily for a few days until it begins to root itself in the basal ganglia.
2. Look for and begin to apply simple but clever solutions for every problem you meet ... and your brain will grow dendrite connectors for change that brings improvements. It’s a conscious choice at first but even the choice to change get’s easier for the brain ... after a few rounds.
Thanks for the reminder that change is doable, GL!
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