The Implementation Paradox

Ask any coach what the key to successful change or getting an outcome is, and I think the most popular answer will be: the person’s ability to implement. 

As humans, implementation puts us in a tough spot. It often requires discomfort treading into the unknown, lacking experience of the outcome or its derivatives, but ultimately, it’s what’s required if we seek to do something different to change our result. 

The other day I was on a walk and started thinking about the dilemma people get put into when they implement something new. It’s a balance of comfort from doing what you’ve always done and discomfort from the change that is about to occur or the unknown. 

This places us in a paradoxical position - we want what's on the other side of change, but breaking out of safety makes it tough to see the outcome, so we inevitably revert back to safety… and never experience the changed result. 

So how do we overcome this? How do we get the things we say we want by venturing into the intimidating unknown?

I think it’s about changing your perspective on the situation.

In a lot of ways, we’ve set ourselves up to desire “clarity” in everything we do. We expect clarity to provide certain paths to an outcome, but when you tie in human behavior, true “clarity” becomes less and less certain.

So for me, instead of seeking clarity or perfection, I seek an initial experience that I can ask myself two simple questions:

1. What went well in the experience?
2. What will I change the next time I enter the situation?

From these two simple observations, I can begin learning the possible paths of an outcome instead of thinking I should know EXACTLY how it will go and then being confused when things don't execute according to plan. *yes, this means you actually need to be OK with uncertainty to experience growth…

This change in perspective has made me much more comfortable with short-term sacrifice for long-term gain. I know that the lessons I learn over my next 3 experiences will improve the 100s after them.

This is especially common with our clients implementing sales changes, and I get it. It’s a new realm for a lot of people. As rehab professionals, we didn’t have to worry about sales after school, we thought we were just going to be the best clinician we could be and go from there. However, life comes at you fast, and if you want to break out of the traditional setting, you’ll have to learn different skills than you were taught. 

If you’re nervous to implement, that’s ok, you’re supposed to be. Just like the first time you did an Evaluation by yourself, even with all the practice in the world, the first one solo would feel scary. Naturally. you got better with each attempt, you probably subconsciously asked yourself the two questions above, and over time, your standard procedure was formed. 

Now the same can be true about your career.. you just need to ask yourself which avenue will provide more growth… 

Staying where you are or evolving into who you want to become?