Common Management Errors (20)

Xx) Emotion, Not Knowledge, Is The Catalyst For Change

Need to understand that emotion, not knowledge, is a catalyst for change. The concept of see-feel-change is another way of explaining this. Knowledge, information and data are really enough to spark change; people have to want change. You need to spark a desire to change.

"...It takes emotion to bring knowledge to a boil..."

Chip Health, 2011

For example, in US hospitals, there is a need for doctors to hand-wash more frequently to prevent patient infection. It is estimated that in the US thousands of patients die every year from preventable bacterial infections. Even though most doctors realise this, many do not adequately wash their hands to prevent disease spreading. To get the message across, after lunch a group of doctors in a hospital was asked to press their hands on agar in sterile petrie dishes containing a growth medium. The agar plates were cultivated and photographed. The photos were made public and revealed what wasn't visible to the naked eye, ie the doctors' hands were covered in blobs of bacteria that could be passed onto patients. The impact was impressive. As a result, hand hygiene compliance jumped from around 80% to 100%. One of the worst images was also used as a screensaver for the hospital's network of computers to ensure that all staff saw it.

This focus on feeling is unnatural in the private/public sectors where we tend to cling to rational and factual findings.