Small change: take action this day

An amusing habit of certain middle-class English folk is cleaning the house before the cleaners arrive. All sorts of factors feed into this behaviour: not least embarrassment about both differences in social status and the very nature of the problem (an unkempt house) that means having a cleaner is helpful.

Many businesses exhibit similar behavioural patterns. Leaders will say things like “we need to wait until things get back on an even keel before we engage support”, while ignoring the fact that an ‘even keel’ will be difficult to achieve without it. Claiming to be too busy, short on budget, or there being too much in flux can be variations on this theme.

While this is understandable, this behaviour is self-defeating. As hard as finding the time, the money or the will can be — and as embarrassing as having others survey your ‘dirty house’ might feel (there’s nothing shameful about it, by the way) — there is only one way to improve your lot. If you need help to get where you want to go, take action this day.

Something to consider: who or what could we engage, right now, to improve our circumstances?

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