Grit or Quit

We have all heard it. It is a common response to a one word question. The new employee, leader, or consultant asks “why?” and the response is “we’ve always done it this way.”

 Change is hard and is almost always met with resistance. But right now is the perfect time in your organization’s history to make change. The pandemic has shifted professional culture and almost all of our work paradigms. These shifts give us space to rethink old processes, systems, and assumptions. Maybe even rethink your individual career trajectory.

One of my favorite author’s is organizational psychologist Adam Grant. In his newest TedTalk – What frogs in hot water can teach us about thinking again, released today, he encourages leaders to know “when to grit and when to quit.” “We’ve always done it this way” is not an acceptable reason to grit-it-out. Use your team’s grit when you know your why and you are relentlessly and passionately pursuing it as a worthy goal. Quit when you do it only because it is the way you’ve always done it.

What old paradigms are you holding onto, or worse imposing upon your teams, that you can rethink and reimagine to improve efficiency and culture? Maybe it is how you develop your team, your approach to performance management, or you as a leader learning how to say you don’t know the answer?

There is always room to grow. If your answer to “why?” is that “it is the way we have always done it,” then sit down with your team and rethink it.