FUNDAMENTAL #28

Have a bias for structure and rebar.

Look to create systems and processes that support our ability to perform with consistency.

Have you ever noticed the way in which concrete is

installed in a major road construction project, perhaps one that includes bridges and overpasses? Steel rods are often used as a means of reinforcement or support, and then the concrete is poured around them. These rods are known as rebar. In a similar way, we can create rebar to reinforce or support us in creating consistency in our performance. This is another concept I learned from Carter Schelling. In order to truly explain the power of structure and rebar, however, I need to first spend some time talking about the nature of behavioral change. Forgive me for going into this in some depth, but if you allow me to build this story from the ground up, I promise it will make perfect sense and youll be able to fully appreciate the significance this Fundamental can play in your personal life as well as in your organization.

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The Failure of Change Initiatives

Consider this: Every year, company executives spend huge amounts of time and money learning new ideas that will take their organizations to another level. They hire consultants, develop catchy slogans, and then roll out the latest initiatives, strategic shifts, and innovative programs. Six months later, most of these programs are no longer operational, and the employees have learned to simply wait it out till the next great initiative comes down from corporate. In much the same way, individuals spend literally billions of dollars in self-help books, tapes, seminars, and programs to learn the latest secrets to losing weight, getting fit, making money, and any host of other personal improvements, yet so few people ever successfully create lasting change in their lives. We learn new skills easily, agree that they make great sense, swear well do them for the rest of our lives, yet six months later no one is still practicing the recently acquired skills. Why is this? Because few people ever learn the keys to lasting change: structure and accountability.

The Role of Inertia

Remember, as a schoolchild, learning about inertia in science class? Well, inertia acts on our own lives in a very similar manner to the way it operates in physics. Absent some new force, objects (or people) will tend to continue along the same path theyre currently on. A habit is a human example of inertia. If Im in the habit of eating junk food, I will continue that habit unless some new force is applied to disrupt the habit. If Im in the habit of making sales presentations in a certain manner, Ill continue that routine as well, unless again some new force disrupts the habit.

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Habits (and inertia) can be both good and bad. Being in the habit of brushing my teeth each morning and evening is a useful habit. The habit serves to continue the status quoregardless of whether that status quo is good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. The key to success, then, is the letting go of bad habits and the adoption of new and healthier ones. But if habits, by definition, are ingrained, repetitive, inertia-like behaviors, how do we change them? The understanding of how new habits replace old ones is the most important element in creating lasting change.

Creating Change: Short-term vs. Long-term

What it takes to create short-term change is distinctly different from what it takes to create long-term change. Shortterm change, as we will see, can be accomplished through the application of intense force, e.g., passion, motivation, desire, excitement. This energy creates the force necessary to disrupt our current patterns or habits. The deeper the current habit being disrupted, the greater the force necessary to affect it. The less ingrained the current habit, the less force that is required for disruption. The problem is that its quite difficult, if not impossible, to sustain this force. This is because the force requires energy physical, emotional, and psychological. Since we have a finite amount of energy to expend (of course the amount varies for each person, yet is still finite for that person) in a day, the continued application of energy to change a deeply ingrained habit ultimately saps us. In the early days of embarking on the new program, were filled with passion and excitement for our goal. We can picture the new, slimmer version of ourselves. Were determined to be the top salesperson in the company. This passion supplies the

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additional energy necessary to disrupt the current habits. However, as this passion predictably wanes, so does the energy, and without this extra energy, we sink back into our old, deeply ingrained habits, and the new program falls by the wayside. So how do we convert this early passion into long-lasting change? To understand this, we need to understand the different requirements of long-term change.

Long-term Change
Remember when you first learned to drive? There was so much to keep in mindchecking the speedometer, checking the rear view mirror, timing the clutch with proper gear shifting, properly positioning yourself within the lane, etc. Thinking of all these things and remembering them took tremendous energy. Today, no doubt most of these functions are practically automatic. They no longer require any thought (or energy) at all. The actions virtually happen without you even being conscious of them. Once these steps became ingrained habits, they ceased to require you to invest energy, thereby freeing that energy to be used elsewhere. In fact, you can perform all of the necessary functions of driving while at the same time carrying on a conversation or listening to an audio book. So the process of adopting new habits, then, is one of heavy initial energy investment (to disrupt the inertia), then ultimately reduced energy investment as inertia acts to keep the new behavior in place and form a habit. The key step in this process is the conversion of the new behavior (as the energy wanes) into habit. This is the critical point where most people fail. If we dont successfully make this conversion, we sink back into old habits. If we do make the conversion, a new habit replaces the old one.

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The Role of Rebar

The key to the conversion is structure or rebar. Remember my construction analogy? Just as rebar adds extra strength to concrete, behavioral structure serves as a crutch to support us in that critical phase between the ebbing of our passion and the ingraining of our new habit. Again, in the beginning, our own excitement and passion are enough to get the new behavior started. In the end, inertia will keep it going. But how do we get from Stage 1 to Stage 3 without sinking back into old habits? Thats where we need the crutch or extra support that properly designed structure and accountability can provide. When I use the term structure in the context of behavioral change, Im referring to the systems and processes we can create to help support us in more regularly doing the behavior we want. There are many useful forms of structure, limited only by your own creativity. Let me give you some examples.

Examples of Structure
Charts are one of the simplest and most effective types of structure. For years I knew that, as a runner, I needed to be more consistent in my stretching if I was to stay healthy, but I hate stretching. I find it boring and uncomfortable. So I created charts that I posted in my basement where I recorded the number of minutes of stretching I did each day. I also posted a goal for total annual stretching and graphed my performance vs. goal on a monthly basis. This simple system helped me to be far more consistent (I was not going to enter a zero on the chart!) and to stretch for longer periods of time than I would have on my own. Most importantly, it kept me engaged long enough (when the initial motivation waned) for a habit to be created.

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Checklists are another amazingly simple example of structure. One of the observations we had at RSI was that if we brought in a new account in a complete and thorough fashion from the very beginning, the chances for long-term success rose dramatically. Yet there are many pieces to doing this well, and there are many different people who are involved. The chances that everyone always does their part right are slim indeed. So we identified the desired process, assigned tasks to the appropriate people, and then set up a checklist for all tasks with a place for sign-offs by the responsible person upon completion. What a simple way to help ensure that all steps are taken every time. Notice how unsophisticated this is, and yet how dramatically it improves the probability of success. Good structure is most often simple and unsophisticated. Measurements are classic examples of structure or rebar, as long as they are posted. If we want to improve the speed with which we answer the phones, nothing works better than measuring it and posting the results. This causes us to change our behavior in order to achieve the best posted numbers. As we continue the changed behavior (in response to the numbers) long enough, this now becomes a habit, and it no longer is as difficult to sustain. In my experience, one of the most effective types of rebar is routine. By this, I mean doing something at the same time every day or every week. For example, when it comes to exercise, you will be far more likely to succeed if you exercise every day first thing in the morning, or every day after work, rather than whenever you get the chance. The reason is simple and goes back to the issue of energy. When we exercise at the same time every day, it becomes part of our unthinking routine and becomes automatic. It no longer requires much mental energy to decide to do it because its simply part of a normal day.

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When we fit it in wherever we can, we constantly have to make choices about whether to exercise at this moment or whether to do something else. This requires extra energy that becomes difficult to sustain. Helping salespeople make cold calls is another good example of the power of routine. Since cold calling is the least enjoyable part of any salespersons job, most tend to find ingenious ways to avoid it. They plan on making their calls when they have a chance, which never seems to happen as frequently as necessary. However, by creating a routine, we can overcome this challenge. For example, if the salesperson makes calls every Monday and Wednesday mornings from 8:30 to 11:30, schedules all appointments for Tuesdays and Thursdays, and does paperwork Fridays, we remove the willpower battle. We no longer have to fight with ourselves and exert so much energy to overcome our reluctance. We simply get in a habit. To help me review our numbers, I used to ask for certain reports from each of my managers each month. Its far easier to establish that these reports are due on the same day each month rather than sometime early in the month. If its the same day, a routine can be established, and it can transition from a mental effort into a habit. One of the most powerful forms of structure is accountability. Specifically, I mean proactively establishing accountability to another person for our actions. When I was in high school, I used to meet a friend of mine to run each morning before school at 6:00. Neither of us wanted to be the one to miss an appointment, so we were always there. On dark, cold mornings, its far easier to get out of bed if someone is waiting for you than if no one is. Arranging to meet someone every day at the gym at a specific time is far more likely to help you establish a habit than simply trying to demonstrate enough

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willpower on your own. Willpower takes tremendous emotional and psychological energy. Again, for 4-6 weeks when a new goal is exciting, pure excitement can generate the force necessary to break inertia. However, when this wears off, having to meet someone may be the difference that supports you in the transition to habit.

A Simple Example
Now that we understand the key elements to behavioral change, lets look at a simple example: Lets say two people each want to begin to keep a clean desk area (see Fundamental #25). Person A creates several systems for where to put the papers, folders, and other material that are usually left on her desk. She then arranges with her manager to do a weekly check-in on how her clean desk effort is going, and even sets a goal for the number of consecutive days with a clean desk and establishes a reward for herself for achieving her goal. She posts the number of successful days in a row in a prominent place outside her work area. Person B simply is determined to try his best to keep his desk clean. Which person is more likely to be successful in meeting their goal? Let me give you one more example of something we did at RSI. We knew that giving our clients plenty of lead time to make health insurance renewal decisions helped them to feel more in control of their costs, and a key to giving them more time is to start the process earlier. Rather than simply saying lets all work hard to start our renewals earlier, we put in place a series of structures and processes to help us achieve our goal. We built specific timelines identifying each step, when it needed to be completed, and by whom. We actually identified nearly 60 of these steps and assigned accountability and dates to each. We then used the process management tool we had built into our

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software system to automatically send reminders and track progress. Then we added measurement and began posting our results with regard to on-time completion of key process steps. These are all examples of structure and rebar that helped us to achieve higher performance. Remember that structure and rebar can be as simple as a checklist or a chart, or as complex as a detailed reporting or measurement system. The important thing is to create a support mechanism that works for you.

A Bias for Structure and Rebar

Having a bias for structure and rebar means learning to put support in place for every new behavior. As soon as you identify a new goal, ask yourself what rebar you can create to assist you in developing a new habit to replace the old one. This is the critical element in creating long-lasting change. At RSI, whenever we were suggesting some new behavior, we learned to ask ourselves, What rebar will we put in place to help us sustain this change?