Removing barriers

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Recently, I ran a workshop at work on business processes and why things do not always go the way you would like. This is a core part of Shape Up, the methodology we use.

We did the following:

  1. Explored which processes matter most for profitability.

  2. Mapped out why they were not running smoothly.

  3. Came up with solutions to remove the causes.

It was surprisingly effective. We are following up on it, and you can already see the results.

“Then it occurred to me: of course, you can apply this to your personal life too. There are all kinds of tasks and processes there that do not always run smoothly either.”

Doing more is not always the solution

Releasing the handbrake is more effective than pressing harder on the accelerator.

Sometimes the answer to getting more done seems to be trying harder and doing more. I struggle with this myself, but I want to use an analogy to show you why it does not always work.

Perhaps you know this experience: you pull away in your car and notice you have to press the accelerator much harder than expected. It sounds strange, and you slow down immediately when you lift your foot off the accelerator.

Then you realize the handbrake is still on. You release it, and everything becomes easy again, just as it should. You fly along! More acceleration was not the answer; removing the friction from the handbrake was.

You can apply this principle to all sorts of things:

  • Your household.

  • Your running training.

  • The morning rush when you leave for work.

Many of the things you do have little handbrakes attached to them.

The handbrake breaks everything

But why is it a problem to keep driving with the handbrake on?

Because everything falls apart if you keep going. You use more fuel, your clutch wears out, and driving stops being enjoyable.

So how do you release the handbrake effectively?

Step 0. Choose a theme or a goal

The easiest place to start is with a theme or goal. This could be all sorts of things, such as:

  • Your work.

  • Your household.

  • Everything involved in your running training.

Step 1. Brainstorm the problems

The idea now is to brainstorm everything that could be better. With running, for example, it might be that:

  • It takes a long time to get out the door.

  • You often do not feel like going.

  • You often have stomach trouble.

At work, you might think of:

  • Not knowing where to start.

  • Forgetting to follow up on tasks.

  • Having trouble getting a message across.

The most important thing in a brainstorm is that there are no wrong answers. You can also do this as a group.

Step 2. Choose your top three

You cannot solve everything at once, so it helps to pick a top three to work on.

How do you choose those three? There are several ways. For that workshop day at work, we used the contribution to profitability as the deciding factor.

But you can use anything that matters to you. Your deciding factor could also be what contributes to your health, fitness, a promotion at work or another goal.

Step 3. Force field analysis

Now we will take a closer look at the top three, one by one.

Write the problem in the middle of a sheet of A4 paper and draw a line.

  • Left - Everything that contributes positively, plus its impact on a scale of 1 to 5.

  • Right - All the barriers working against you.

It can be that simple.

Step 4. Remove barriers

The third step actually took the longest in the workshop. This one is the most important.

What we will do now is brainstorm how to remove those barriers.

A few recurring patterns can help, but anything goes. I see it as an experiment myself. If something does not work, that is fine too: just try the next little experiment.

To get your thinking started, consider the following actions for removing barriers.

Access

| Make the behavior you want to see the easiest option.

Sometimes it can be extremely effective to remove your own access to certain actions. If the vending machine at work is a barrier to losing weight, for example, you can leave your debit card at home.

Then you physically cannot buy anything from that machine. There are countless possibilities like this.

At other times, you actually want access. When I want to go running or cycling on Sunday, the shop does not open until noon. If I still need breakfast, it gets very late. I do not want that, so I choose an unhealthy option from the gas station.

Having everything you need at home, especially at busy times, makes the option you want the easiest one. You remove the barrier.

New Tiny Habits

| A Tiny Habit makes it easy to start.

You can also use a Tiny Habit. A tiny habit consists of:

  1. A trigger.

  2. A small action.

  3. A reward.

The trigger can be as simple as finishing brushing your teeth or washing your hands. The behavior could be “I do two push-ups,” and the reward is taking a moment to acknowledge that you are on your way to building a “new you.”

What a tiny habit mainly does is break the focus on an end result that may still be a long way off into a small step you can take now.

Buying or getting rid of things

Some things simply make your life much easier. One example is my Instant Pot. Putting a tasty meal on the table in ten minutes changes your life, especially when you are busy. The Instant Pot does that for me.

Buying things like this, or getting rid of things, can help lower barriers.

Conclusion

To cut a long story short, removing barriers makes everything easier. It pays to pause occasionally and look at how you approach and do things.

Habits