DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INERTIA. The psychological meaning of the word “inertia” implies an indisposition to change – a certain “stuckness” due to human programming. It represents the inevitability of behaving in a certain way – the way that has been indelibly inscribed somewhere in the brain. It also represents the impossibility – as long as a person is guided by his habits – of ever behaving in a better way.
You are bound by individual construct of reality. This is the continual practices, prejudices, experiences and beliefs (false and true) you contain within your brain. When brought into a team, a team construct is developed. The team creates a systems of practices, prejudices, experiences and beliefs; that are reinforced through time and experience with your-self and the team. We subconsciously impose our own restrictions; rules and assumption – This constipation of imposition spreads outside of individual to teams to eventually creating organizational folkloric constructs of practice.
These are heard in;
- “That is the way it has always been done.”
- “You are not allowed to do that!”
- “Tradition demands that it be done this way!”
- “You have been given the information, and the information is true.”
- “We have always done it that way.”
- “I tried doing it differently once, and got written up.”
- …you can add more I am sure.
The more experience we have, more reinforcement of psychological inertia, more belief in our constructs – which freezes our thinking in place. Once our thinking freezes in place the friction of innovation and growth ceases to happen.
Examples of these blockages – Read the statements below, while answering be thoughtful of how your continual practices, prejudices, experiences and beliefs (false and true) impact the solutions:
Example 1
- How many months have 28 days?
Example 2
- At what speed must a dog run not the hear any sound from a frying pan that is tied to its tail?
Example 3
- There are sixty lit candles in a room, and 10 have blown out. How many candles remain?
- How did your initial 1st thought response, differ from a more thoughtful response?
- What past constructs (experiences) impacted your responses?
- If you were to answer these questions in a group – how would that have change the outcomes?
- How fast does that dog have to run?
- Looking at the routine causes below, explore how you overcome or fell victim to them.
- In the past, when faced with challenges similar what was effective?
- What can be done to ensure solutions to problems are as “true” as possible and are able to overcome psychological inertia?
Routine causes of psychological inertia are;
- Having a fixed vision (or model) of the solution or root cause.
- False assumptions (trusting the data).
- Language that is a strong carrier of psychological inertia. Specific terminology carries psychological inertia.
- Experience, expertise and reliance upon previous results.
- Limited knowledge, hidden resources or mechanisms.
- Inflexibility (model worship; trying to prove a specific theory, stubbornness).
- Using the same strategy. Keep thinking the same way and you will continue to get the same result.
- Rushing to a solution – incomplete thinking.
– the 8 causes are found in TRIZICS
Share your ideas and solutions.
michael cardus is create-learning
image by Abulic Monkey