Strategy and the Fat Smoker is the title of David Maister’s new book scheduled for publication in the US in the New Year. He sums up perfectly the challenge facing progressive managers and their team members in working on behaviour change:
“The primary reason we do not work at behaviors which we know we need to improve is that the rewards (and pleasure) are in the future; the disruption, discomfort, and discipline needed to get there is immediate.”
Just like the fat smoker – we know what we need to do, and we know why we should do it. But finding the discipline, commitment, energy and support to change often means that we never do.
I guess the PMN equivalent of the fat smoker is the fire-fighting mole whacker who is always too busy to think.