Boy, does
this sound familiar.
1. You'll become scared to leave your comfort zone.
Social psychologist Thomas Webb and his colleagues at the University of Sheffield assert
that those who most need track their progress are the least likely to
do so. "If you're comfortable with your current modus operandi, it can
be very tempting to delude yourself that there’s no need to change, and
avoiding progress monitoring is one way to do that," writes Jarrett.
2. You won't reach your goals.
Study after study shows that if you check your progress, you'll improve. Jarrett cites
a study of students tracking their math homework as
one example. Yes, negative feedback hurts. But "the temporary pain of
negative feedback is nothing compared with the crushing experience of
project failure," he writes.
3. You won't be able to evaluate your methods.
The only way to improve at any process — whether it's losing weight
or cutting costs — is to hone your techniques through trial-and-error
methods over time. Measurement is the only way to compare the results of
one method to those of another.
How to Overcome the "Ostrich" Problem
What's the best way to stay diligent about measuring and tracking? Here are some tips:
Set deadlines.
In the absence of deadlines, we procrastinate. In the presence of
looming deadlines, we catch fire. "Psychologists call this largely
unconscious mechanism the 'Goal Looms Larger Effect,'" writes
Heidi Grant Halverson on the Harvard Business Review blog. Halverson
is the associate director for the Motivation Science Center at the
Columbia University Business School. "The nearer you are to the finish
line, the larger the goal 'looms' in your mind — the more it dominates
your thinking, and benefits from your attention."
Automate the measurement process.
If you ask colleagues to check progress on your behalf, you'll no
longer need the willpower to check things on your own, notes Jarrett.
Someone else will have to do the work of checking — and breaking the
news to you.
Find ways to confront and get past negative news.
Let's say you're scared of measuring something, for fear of detecting
a dispiriting lack of progress. Look anyway. Then forgive yourself for
the result. "Remind yourself not to be a perfectionist. It's okay to
screw up," writes Jarrett. "Struggles and setbacks aren't an
abnormality, they are part of the process."
