There are various books we read or seminars we go for improving our level of excellence, be it at personal or organizational level. We feel good after attending these and also think that the techniques told are very simple which can be undertaken anytime so that we can march on the path of improvement in our level of excellence. However the reality shows that, for many, this does not happen and we tend to attend these sessions again and again or read new books as and when they hit the stands. The cycle continues. The prime reason for this is related to absence of trying out the techniques or ideas understood; either as the ideas seem to be too different from our thought process or we are not sure of the possible outcome in the situation and not ready to disturb the equilibrium (Comfort zone) in which we are operating. Many a times we cannot convince others to join us in the newer movements and the situation remains as it is.
There are three types of fears which one needs to overcome to be successful in his desired endeavor to improve/excel. The first one is FEAR OF CHANGE, second is FEAR OF FAILURE and third is FEAR OF SUCCESS.
At any point of time, we are in an equilibrium state with our surrounding, which includes animate and inanimate things. We attain this balance and are happy to remain in this state as it provides a comfort zone to each one of us. Our life feels more predictable and thus easy and satisfying. We dread to disturb this equilibrium even though we know the law of equilibrium i.e. if there is a disturbance to any equilibrium; it remains for short time and we will achieve equilibrium at another level. So even if we get disturbed, we will get in to the comfort zone with our life in a short span of time. The same is FEAR OF CHANGE, where we do not know if we use the new technique / method discussed during a seminar or in a book, what disturbance it is going to create and what will be its effect and how long it is going to take to come back to the equilibrium again. Many a times if the ideas that we want to adopt are radically different than what we are living with, then we fear magnitude of disturbance it is going to create in our lives e.g. we have to change the way of thinking or we need to become inclusive or pluralistic in our approach when we are not used to it, etc. This is the biggest hurdle for everyone to overcome. We have proverbs like “Do not change if it isn’t broken” which is quoted many times to avoid the disturbing the balance. If we want to improve our level of excellence, it becomes mandatory for us to create that positive disturbance in the way we are doing a specific thing and slowly settle at a higher level of equilibrium. It is up on us to decide the type /level/extent/scope of disturbance we need to create and our perception about what we can handle and create it. This is where experimentation plays a significant role. Controlled experimentation allows us to overcome our FEAR OF CHANGE
FEAR OF FAILURE is pretty much known to everyone. On one side it enhances the performance compelling one to perform to best of ones abilities and push the envelope beyond; on the other hand it stops us from trying. It is the perceived impact at physical, psychological and social level that prevents us from taking that one big step. So the question now is how to convince our mind that is it necessary to be unmindful of the possible impact when you want to try out new idea/method as well as prepare for the actions if the desired result is not achieved. It requires a little mental training and experimentation at smaller scale before doing the BIG thing. Experimentation at smaller scale creates impact, both positive and negative, at a smaller scale which will not disturb the equilibrium significantly but gives us an opportunity to understand negative impact and breadth as well as depth of damage. It helps us to create mental mechanisms to work around the psychological as well as social impacts in addition to providing clear ideas to build contingency measures to be taken before the next experimentation. We need to tinker the experiment based on our experience with earlier experiment and conduct it at a higher scale. Once we are able to do this, the FEAR OF FAILURE does not act as impediment to traverse the path of excellence. We fail, we learn from it and again try till we are successful. In this process one improves oneself significantly. If we need to excel beyond what we are today, we need to chart the uncharted territories. There is always a chance of failure hence it is critical to overcome FEAR OF FAILURE. If one inculcates a habit of experimentation then this fear does not remain a fear but becomes a tool in the path of increasing level of excellence.
The reverse might happen that we implement the new idea and it is successful. We can showcase tremendous results. These results will change the whole level at which one operates, it suddenly expands the role with addition of new responsibilities. The game shifts, it becomes big and different and one needs to adjust to new paradigm quickly. The stake holders are different, thought processes are different and expectations are different too. Are we prepared for this or having FEAR OF SUCCESS. Although this is a good change, but it is significant and definitely shakes the equilibrium with which we are comfortable at that moment. This fear is a good fear but it should be at such level that makes you prepare rather than avoid trying out new ideas. Again experiencing the success and their positive effects on our equilibrium at smaller level prepares us to play at bigger level when the opportunity knocks the door. Doing small experiments gives us this opportunity and one should continuously strive for the same.
Here, Experimentation spiral comes to our help. It leads us slowly and steadily to the level we want to achieve. It also helps us to manage the problems we thought we would encounter if we implement the newer ideas directly. It goes like this; there is a new idea, one is not sure of getting implemented on the scale one wants so he experiments at much smaller scale wherein he finds some supporters for the idea. If the results are not in line with the desired; we fine tune the parameters of experimentation and perform the same again. This tuning circle continues till we become successful. By the time we achieve success, we would have made several changes to our original experiment and have found the right balance of all aspects which would be necessary to take the experiment on the higher level. This success acts as trajectory to take the level of excellence to a new level and new set of experiments need to begin to take us to our ultimate goal. So this experimentation spiral takes us to the desired level step by step.
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