Often we look for justification to do nothing. Hardly surprising that a busy professional comes up with reasons not to do what might be a very good idea, especially when it means running counter to a comfortable tradition or routine !
Inertia is a trap for us all, and a serious impediment to progress : we are all deeply imbued with a strong bias towards perpetuating the status quo, especially when confronted with too many options, alternatives, ideas, and choices.
You can lessen the pull of inertia by adopting some or all of these pragmatic techniques :
- Articulate your objectives clearly and restate them constantly.
- Remind yourself about just how much the status quo will do to progress your objectives - is there evidence that it’s likely to be better for you in the future ?
- Identify and list all your options besides simply accepting the status quo.
- Work out the costs, disadvantages, and problems attaching to pursuing new alternatives - be careful not to overstate the effort of switching from the status quo.
- Re-evaluate the costs, benefits, and effort involved in maintaining the status quo - you may find it doesn’t measure up as it once did.
- Don’t let myriad alternatives confuse you into simply sticking with the status quo - get active about choice.
“There are so many things I could do - it’s hard to know which one is best” is not sufficient reason to simply keep doing what you’ve always done, and so fall victim to status quo inertia.
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