Editorial

Citation

Bajer, J. (2023), "Editorial", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 69-69. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-06-2023-200

Why behaviours don’t change (hint: because they are outputs)

Dogs wag their tails when happy. However, shaking a dog’s tail will definitively not make it happy. It just works that way.

And that’s because beliefs precede behaviours – not the other way around. Behaviours (what we do) are the consequence of our beliefs (how we think). So, to change what people do, we need to help them change how they think.

Although we’ve known this for a very long time, organisations around the world still insist on teaching people new behaviours, telling them to be customer-centric, to be one team, to lead with courage and a few other fancy-named-but-still-the-same behaviours.

After a while, they quietly abandon their initiatives, replacing them when shinier ones show up. Campaign, abandon, repeat.

The world thinks that beliefs can’t change; nothing further from the truth. Beliefs will emerge when what we say is the same as what we do.

Until then, HR departments will continue to go around in circles, busily planning their next behaviour campaign.

Enjoy this great issue of SHR.

Warmly,

Javier Bajer, Cultural Architect

Editor-in-chief, Strategic HR Review

@javierbajer