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A simple formula for change and transformation

Friday, February 10, 2012

Our love of stability in our lives usually prevents us from making transformational changes. That is, until we have no choice or our discomfort or desire to achieve at a higher level prompts us to move, act, or think in a different way.

There is a very simple trick to achieving lasting change. It is something that I have taught to many of my students around the world and shared with my local clients and patients. It has to do with how we perceive space and time. I’ve further simplified this by discussing four major perceptions, being location, duration, speed, and direction. Indeed, how you live your life today, manage your business, or operate an organization or group is very much affected by how we experience these four basic perceptions.

How you see yourself right now is affected by your relationship to a specific location – and your assessment as to its expanse. Think of this as where you perform your current functions or activities. You feel defined by where they are done and how they may or may not be confined by space. Therefore, when you move to a new home, take a job in a different location, or even rearrange your desk or living room, your mind comes more open to change. Thus corporations frequently take key leaders to an off-site location to discuss specific strategic innovations. It is difficult to change without changing this location perspective.

How long an activity lasts is also a very important factor. For instance, an organization may take a couple of months to plan a specific project. Many times we feel that speeding up the process is an improvement. However, most often slowing down may produce superior results as it may offer increased opportunities to perfect each step. When I work with golfers wishing to improve their teeing off swing, I get them to mentally rehearse the process in very slow motion. Rushing something is rarely wise.

That leads me into the issue of speed. When someone asks me to help them with the transformative process, I always ask for a list of key tasks and inquire as to the rate that they are performed. Changing the slow tasks to fast and the fast to slow opens the mind to change. Surprisingly, it is not always that one is better than the other. What is important is the willingness to change perceptions.

The last perception to consider involves any directional quality that may be involved. This could be as simple as altering the route you take to work each day or as you transport your kids to school. Essentially, I look at this as developing the mental flexibility to adapt to alternate ways of doing things. In many cases there may no be “right” answers. Rather, it is important to develop mental flexibility.

The ability to flexibly change these four perceptions means that an individual or organization is more capable of sensing the environment and adequately adapting in a way that promotes successes. Organizations typically achieve these perceptual changes by hiring key leaders from outside the organization. For individuals, the process is not as easy. Regardless, still it can be done. Successfully changing our perceptions helps us become a creator of our destiny rather than its victim.

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Keywords: Transformation, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, organizational change

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