Small change: remember the mortgage

In the relative comfort of our contemporary lives, it’s easy to forget that our primary instincts remain geared towards survival. In a cold, indifferent world, our brains are hardwired to do what we deem necessary for self-protection.

It follows that most behaviour at work can be explained by a simple fact: people have mortgages to pay. This doesn’t mean that said behaviour will be rational, sensible or even in our objective best interests. But it is always explicable.

You might not think that someone else’s responsibilities are your concern. But you are responsible for leading change. And that process is often helped by acknowledging the shared burden of survival.

Something to consider: what survival worries might be present for those around me, consciously or otherwise?

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