Change Your Routine

If you’ve ever tried to break a habit at work or in your personal life, then you know how difficult it can be to get out of a pattern and start a new routine. Despite this difficulty, there are some routines that are worth changing. In prior posts I have written about ways in which we sometimes project outward attitudes that are then contradicted by our behaviors. In this vein, defensive routines are important habits to examine.

As Chris Argyris defines them, defensive routines are like mixed-messages, which over time blind people to their contradictory nature. Over time, we accept these mixed messages as simple truth. This welcomed conundrum is a sort of double-bind, which is maintained as a means of preventing embarrassment, avoiding a perceived threat or awkward situation, maintaining the status quo and avoiding unwanted change. As these messages are institutionalized over time, they can take on the force of a cultural taboo, making an honest dialogue about them off limits.

It is important to note that these defensive routines represent dynamic and complicated behaviors and require a certain level of what Chris Argyris calls "skilled incompetence”. Essentially, even though one individual may know that another person is also aware of an issue that is a problem of mutual concern, they both choose to act as though neither of the parties knows anything. They both may do this in a skilled manner in order to perpetuate a believable cover-up. The very attitudes and behaviors that support these cover-ups are an example of a defensive routine and over time they serve to prevent the learning that is necessary to bring about both individual and organizational changes for improvement. If you think you are experiencing a defensive routine, answer these four questions to see what is happening at a deeper level.

1. Are you or others sending a message that is inconsistent?
2. Are you or others acting as if the message is not inconsistent?
3. Are you or others in any way making this inconsistency undiscussable?
4. And, are you or others making the pretense that there is no inconsistency, or that it is discussable?

If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, perhaps you are in the midst of a defensive routine. If you discover the presence of a defensive routine, it is critical to fully understand what it is and then devise a way to address it. No individual, team or organization is immune to developing defensive routines and it is important not to let responses to them include simple quick fixes or band-aid solutions. As a way to avoid developing or sustaining such routines, individuals can begin to practice more open communication by making it acceptable to freely and respectfully question interpersonal dynamics or business practices.

Once an environment of openness is established, there is an activity that can promote discussion about the nature of the defensive routine. Often called the “left-hand/right-hand column”, individuals focus on the identified problem, and then use a blank page to reveal things that they say and things that they think about the issue. After writing a brief description of the defensive routine as they see it, they begin in the right-hand column where they write down exactly what they have said about the situation. Then, in the left-hand column, they write down things that they think but do not say or act upon. The following questions can be discussed in order to contrast the difference between the two columns:

1. What factors have led me to think and feel this way?
2. What was my intention and what was I really hoping to accomplish?
3. How might my comments have contributed to the difficulties?
4. Why didn't I say or act upon what was in my left-hand column?
5. What assumptions might I be making about the other person or people involved?
6. What are the costs of operating this way? What are the payoffs?
7. How can I use my left-hand column to improve my communication and behavior on this issue?

Although it can take time and energy, identifying and addressing these defensive routines can accelerate the learning process and help us achieve our goals more consistently. Imagine what’s possible when we drop our defensive routines and take risks to learn the very things that can help us discover new kinds of success.