xxv) 3 Logic Traps

Not appreciating the 3 logic traps, ie

Trap 1 - organisations are willing to allocate whatever resources are required to ensure that change projects will succeed.

An analogy is paying a therapist to help you stop smoking but you are not really ready to give up cigarettes. An organisation's commitment of money and resources to a project is not necessarily a direct indication of motivation to do whatever it takes to succeed.

Need to assess an organisation and its leadership's readiness for change, irrespective of what resources are allocated

Trap 2 - once people become aware of how their behaviour is contributing to a problem, they will be motivated to make changes that will solve it.

This involves more than exposing problems. An analogy: a doctor can mistakenly assume that his patient will change their diet if their arteries are clogged. Such an insight does not mean that patients will control their dietary intake or even want to try. Sometimes managers can be unaware of how their behaviour will affect others. However, awareness does not necessarily mean that a behavioural change will follow

Trap 3 - once staff members take observable actions to change, it is assumed that the ambivalence is resolved and the staff is ready to move on.

This means that a person can be engaging in new behaviours that are aligned with the desired change on one day and fall back into ambivalence and lack of action on another day. An analogy: a smoker might take steps to stop smoking without really giving up cigarettes for good. Likewise, it should not be assumed that it is resolved once and for all when we see them begin to act

(source: Kathleen D Miller et al, 2001)