Hidden competing commitments

You know when you read something and it stays with you? There was life before you read it and life after?

That’s how I felt when I read Immunity to Change and came across the concept of Hidden Competing Commitments.

In other words, why am I doing the opposite of what I say I want to do?

An example authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey give: 

• Fred’s commitment is to be a better listener.

• However, he allows his attention to drift or starts to think about his answer.

• His hidden competing commitment is that he doesn’t want to feel helpless or look stupid if he doesn’t have an answer.

Only by surfacing the hidden competing commitments – what’s really worrying us – can we actually work out how to change. 

It’s a theme I use throughout my work because it’s what’s left unsaid that we need to design behavioural solutions for.

For example, it’s rare for someone to tell us they don’t wish to proceed because they’re worried about their credibility if it all goes wrong, and it’s unlikely they’ll tell you it’s too much hassle to work through their procurement processes, so it’s easier to simply not buy from you.

But we can anticipate these hidden barriers to action and design appropriate mitigations. Pay less attention to what people say they are committed to, and more attention to what they actually do.

P.S. You can see my Book Bites clip on Immunity to Change here.

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