Immunity to Change: My X-Ray
Last week, I introduced the Immunity to Change method of overcoming adaptive challenges. If you didn’t have a chance to read it, you can do so here. I also shared that one of my biggest goals in life has been to write a book. I have notebooks FULL of book ideas. I’ve forgotten many of them, but one topic has stuck with me for over ten years. As I’ve gained more experience in executive coaching and leadership development, the need for that book has only been confirmed.
But I haven’t written the book yet. Why? Because despite multiple false starts, I have internal barriers that have prevented me from following through on my goal. After reading Immunity to Change by Harvard professors Richard Kegan and Lisa Lahey Laskow, I realized writing a book is an adaptive challenge that will require me to change my mindset. So how do you go about changing your mindset?
Keegan and Lahey identified four steps to overcoming our adaptive challenges:
Take a fearless inventory of what you are doing and not doing that actively undermines your ability to accomplish your goals.
Identify the hidden competing commitments that are keeping you stuck, with one foot on the gas and one foot on the break.
Identify your “big assumptions,” the ways you understand yourself and the world that you see as TRUTH.
Design small tests of your assumptions to help you begin shifting your mindset.
Immunity to Change X-Ray
The first three steps of this process are referred to as the “Immunity to Change X-Ray.” Why an x-ray? Because in order to change our mindset, we have to look within and be honest about the internal barriers holding us back from our stated goals.
So here it is - my immunity to change x-ray around writing a book! I must admit, sharing this with the world is a little anxiety-provoking, as I’m revealing significant mindset challenges. But I hope sharing my x-ray provides some insight into your biggest adaptive challenges. And I hope you’ll spend some time working through this exercise to uncover the internal barriers holding you back from achieving your goals!
What’s Next?
After we do the hard work required to complete the immunity to change x-ray, our next step is to design experiments to put our big assumptions to the test. I’ll share more about this in my next post, but here’s a hint: If you’re reading this, you’re part of my experiment!
