People are Number One but People have Changed and the Formula has to Change

Certainty or Uncertainty. Take the Fear away from People! People are number one. All people, employees, customers, managers, stakeholders.

According to Tony Robbins one of the drivers of human behavior is certainty. People like to perceive, think, behave and act within their comfort zone. On the other hand, uncertainty is fascinating nevertheless scary.

People have changed in the last decade more than they have changed in the previous century. The main reason is the “climate”. The economic, political, social environment is full of uncertainty today. People do not know what will happen tomorrow. No real forecasts can be made. You can not understand consumer behavior by asking questions (surveys and market research fail). That’s because in this uncertain environment, people lie. Not intentionally! It’s one of their defense mechanisms to uncertainty.

If you want to know how people think , behave and act don’t ask them. Find ways to track down what they actually do.

In addition, people have become more reactive. They blame everyone else but themselves for their mistakes and failures. They even blame the weather for their bad mood. That of course has multiple negative effects in moving ahead . The more reactive you become, the less action you will take to move forward and act responsibly (ability to respond) mainly because you become part of the problem.

And in today’s uncertain environment there are a lot of snipers around. If you don’t constantly move, you become an easy target to shoot down.

All this, on to top of everything, has created huge hormonal changes in people. It reduces testosterone (power, confidence, assertiveness hormone) and spikes cortisol (stress hormone). People become more and more weak, powerless, less confident and stress reacting. They are unwilling to work on strategic and corporate goals (Their need for dopamine – another hormone-has diminished) .

All the above signs should be taken seriously in business as well. That is why traditional management doesn’t work and leadership steps in. That is why traditional marketing and sales doesn’t work . That is why traditional productivity methods don’t work. That is why HR doesn’t work, unless you effectively address the above which all aim at taking the fear out of people and the workspace. That of course requires the hiring of the best for each job and not the cheapest. It requires new content and methods for training and development. The old ones have long died. Let them rest in peace!

For more information visit us at conicon.com

Yiannakis Mouzouris
B.Sc. Mech. Eng., M.Sc. Mgt
Business Consultant / Trainer