Immunity to Change, Lisa Lahey, Ed.D.
Leader as Reader ™ Virtual Book Club for ILA Members
May 11, 2012
1. Commitment /
Improvement Goal
2. Doing/ Not Doing
3. Hidden
CompetingCommitment
To speak my truth; to
having the difficult
conversations (to not
avoid conflict)
I don’t state my
opinion firmly (I
sugar-coat my words,
dance around the
message, make indirect
comments)
I’ll offend people;
won’t be liked; could
anger the person; I’ll
be seen as vulnerable,
disagreeable & needy
- To not offending
people
- To being liked,
agreeable & seen as a
good guy
- To minimizing
negative emotions
- To not getting myself
upset & angry
- To not being
vulnerable; to not
being needy
Importance? 4.5
I ruminate endlessly,
and so I’m exhausted
and distracted from
doing the real work
© Minds at Work
I act as if things are
okay when they’re not
(I talk about other
topics; I don’t make
appointments to talk)
I avoid without letting
go of what I feel
Without being clear
about what I really
think & feel, I don’t
ask for what I want
Goal
Behavior
Hidden
“Goal”
- To not feeling stupid / rejected
- To not being vulnerable, open to
rejection
- To not feeling weak & ineffective
-To not being seen as controlling
or a micro-manager
- To not being a loser
- To looking good
- To not being vulnerable
- To not being alone
- To hiding my powers
- To being loveable
- To hiding my feelings of being
superior
Goal
Behavior
Immune System
Hidden
“Goal”
Hidden
“Goal”
“The single biggest
failure of leadership
is to treat adaptive
challenges like
technical problems”
Heifetz & Linsky
Goal
Behavior
Hidden
“Goal”
Hidden
“Goal”
Big Assumptions
Immune System
1. Commitment /
Improvement Goal
2. Doing/ Not Doing
3. Hidden
CompetingCommitment
4. Big Assumption
To speak my truth; to
having the difficult
conversations (to not
avoid conflict)
I don’t state my
opinion firmly (I
sugar-coat my words,
dance around the
message, make indirect
comments)
I’ll offend people;
won’t be liked; could
anger the person; I’ll
be seen as vulnerable,
disagreeable & needy
- To not offending
people
- To being liked,
agreeable & seen as a
good guy
- To minimizing
negative emotions
- To not getting myself
upset & angry
- To not being
vulnerable; to not
being needy
If I offend people, am
not liked, am
vulnerable, am needy,
I will be left alone
Importance? 4.5
I ruminate endlessly,
and so I’m exhausted
and distracted from
doing the real work
© Minds at Work
I act as if things are
okay when they’re not
(I talk about other
topics; I don’t make
appointments to talk)
I avoid without letting
go of what I feel
Without being clear
about what I really
think & feel, I don’t
ask for what I want
If I make someone
angry, they’ll strike
back, get out of
control, I’ll get upset
& say the wrong
thing. I’ll ruin the
relationship
If I’m not agreeable,
people will avoid me.
People want to stay on
the surface; they don’t
really want to know
me.
Overturning Immunity to Change
Model of Change
Examine your lens: Distortion? Bias? Always true?
“Whether you think
you can or you
can’t, you’re
probably right”
Henry Ford
The purpose of testing the Big Assumption is:
•To get information about your Big Assumption … specifically, how accurate it is
•The purpose is not to try immediately to improve or get better
mindsatwork.com