Carin Eriksson Lindvall Artikel i Psychology Today
Renewal By Subtraction, Psychology Today,
November 2021, p. 60
Change isn’t easy. It seems like the human
instinct is to add components, making things more complicated, instead of
simplifying and removing them. Many of us has experienced that in our own lives
but it has also been proven in research. A research study recently published in Nature investigated how people act in
problem solving. In this study, conducted by Adams, Converse, Hales and Klotz
(Nature, 2021), more than 1,000 people participated in various tests where they
had to solve problems with, among other things, geometric figures and Lego. In
the tests, the majority of participants preferred to add elements, even though
the solution could be found more easily if some element had been removed.
The tendency to solve problems by adding
new components explains also why many of us, often, at home and in
organizations – when not thinking clearly through problems – try to solve
problems by introducing new routines or policies. We keep adding on routines or
solutions until everything becomes so complex that it’s almost impossible to get
any kind of overview. We squeeze in meetings or things to do in already
overbooked calendars. We try to book things even though we do not have the time
or the desire to do them. We also have a tendency to continue doing things we
have done before. Particularly if money, time or efforts were once invested, a
waste aversion could hold us back from subtracting. We keep adding on and maybe
we think briefly in the moment that we shouldn’t, but it’s easier to add than
it is to remove. More and more things to do until it becomes overwhelming. Are
you dissatisfied with your home? Buy new decor. Do you want to look better? Get
some new clothes. Improve your kids? Add new activities into their already
hectic schedule. It seems like the first thing we think of when we meet a
situation is “what can we add here”?
This is also true in our organizations.
It’s a well-known fact in organizational research that when a new upper-level
manager takes on their position, one of the first things introduced are change
programs. New solutions, routines and policies are added to an ever-increasing
expansion of formal organizations. These changes offer few subtractive
solutions. A proposal to get rid of routines or tasks could even have negative
social consequences at work because it’s not seen as creative, positive,
forthcoming or appreciative of co-workers. And we may also believe that
existing solutions and routines are there for a reason, even though we don’t
know that reason, so we leave it unquestioned. People end up being overwhelmed
with work, sometimes doing things nobody asks for or that bring little or no
value to the business. It’s no longer a solution, but still something that gets
done and adds onto the complexity and inertia of the organization. It’s a
routine.
Routines are difficult to change. Routines
are, by definition, a common set of activities or ways of doing things. Routines
are solutions to previous problems. We all have them;
we have them in our daily lives, in our family lives and in our workplaces. We shape routines because it makes us in many ways more free; we
don’t have to think of every step we take, we just need to rely on good
routines and use our brains for better or more demanding things. And that’s the
problem with routines – when we are doing them, we seldom question them. The
brain converts a sequence of actions into an automatic routine, and the more
internalized the routine, the less brain power is needed. And more activities
can be added on, allowing time for less thinking. And we go on as we have always
done.
But
then the pandemic hit and everything changed. Many of our previously added
routines and solutions of our daily social and working life were no longer
adequate. All of a sudden, we made changes because we had no choice. It could
be changes in the simple routines like hand washing or more complex ones like
commuting to work. At work, we changed our meeting routines and how work was
carried out. In the new work-from-home arrangement that many of us were faced
with, we had to create new routines. We couldn’t stop
the spread of the virus and we just had to accept the new circumstances. We subtracted
social events and meetings from our calendars and to-do lists. And many of us did find it rewarding to do so. Our old
pre-pandemic routines were not solutions to our new problems. Change and
subtraction was possible.
The
pandemic gave us a new and extraordinary experience and an opportunity to
reflect on the complexity of life. The loss of old routines and outdated
solutions leaves space for real change - change by which we choose to live. Maybe some of our previous routines were even complicating our lives
unnecessarily? The
disruption of routines and “musts” by the pandemic has given us a unique
opportunity to now reflect on what is valuable/essential in our lives and to
see how, going forward, social life and work can be better organized to make
lives more fulfilling.
Doing
so, philosophy, which is also the foundation of existential therapy, can be
helpful. When it comes to routines, we can turn to ancient wisdom such as Aristotle
or the stoics. Aristotle (300 BC), the Greek philosopher during the Classical
period in ancient Greece who is (among many things) said to be the father of
logic, is often cited: we become what we
repeatedly do. And if you believe this is true, you have to be careful
about the choice of habits and routines. We have to find the balance or as
Aristotle called this “the mean”. The mean isn’t an arithmetic average: it’s
the right balance in a particular circumstance. It can’t be computed by adding
or dividing. There will never be any easy answers. The “mean” has to be lived
and reflected upon.
This
is a fine match with the ideas of the stoics (the
school of philosophy that developed in Athens, starting as early as 300 BC).
Stoicism invites us to let go of our illusions of control, to take
responsibility, to overlook trivialities, and to try to see the value in our everyday
lives. Stoicism challenges us not to seek perfection but to seek growth and
development. Many
of us have learned from our recent pandemic experience that subtraction and
simplification can make lives more fulfilling; it’s a solution that also embodies
the wisdom of the Stoics.
As
more people are vaccinated and Covid-19 is getting more under control, we are
now moving toward a new normal. We now have a tremendously massive opportunity
to redesign our daily lives before we are stuck in routines that keep us from
thinking. We cannot live without routines, but we must not be locked in by too
many or inaccurate routines. The world we face is too complex and varied to be
handled with only routines, but without them, we become lost and inefficient.
Which
of your earlier routines and rituals did you really miss when you were locked
down? Which changes during the pandemic relieved you? Which new routines do you
want to keep or shape? Is it possible to simplify your life?
And
if I dare to offer some advice: Don’t overcommit. Don’t stress it. Have the
courage to take things down a notch, and take some time out to reflect on what
is really important. Don’t be so busy acting that you forget to keep
reflecting. Shape good routines that are solutions to the problems of today.
And let go of old, unnecessary “musts”.