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Breaking the Entitlement Curse
July 26, 2007
The first reaction to any discussion about changing habits sounds something like:
“Why should I believe that organizational covenants work? Some of these entitlement attitudes and behaviors have been around for a long time. How do you explain that away?”
It’s based partly on the notion that “I can’t break your habits or change your attitudes.” And that’s true. The only person who can break your habits and change your attitudes is you. Here’s an example of how that works.
Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far way, Luke Skywalker crashed his X-Wing fighter in a swamp. Yoda, the resident Jedi knight, was teaching him how to raise the ship from the bottom of the swamp. Despite repeated efforts, Luke just couldn’t get the job done. Exasperated, he berated Yoda. Yoda then shifted from coach to doer and raised the ship. Luke’s mouth opened, walked around the ship, returned to Yoda, and said “I . . . I don’t believe it!” Looking at Luke, Yoda gave a five word reply:
“That is why you fail.”
So, if we can’t change the attitudes and behaviors of others, then how do we break the curse? Let’s take another look at the example model covenant I used in my last posting: Dodging the Entitlement Curse
We consistently and humbly acknowledge our gratitude for personal and professional opportunities that come from the hard and diligent work of other people.
This covenant is a series of words that creates a picture. When someone carries out this covenant, do you expect that person to conger up the image of the stereotypical business tycoon or partisan political leader? Probably not. I would imagine you have someone else in mind. Someone whom you’ve actually known or read about. That’s important because its evidence that people can act out of a value base that does not include an entitlement attitude.
Imagine that for the last few weeks, several times a day, you and your colleagues have burned that same covenant into your own organizational/self-image. Now imagine that as you’ve been redefining your personal or collective image that you’ve modified your reward system to “payoff” each and every time you act like you – humble, grateful, appreciative.
That's a far cry from the notion that birthright and/or marital right take precedence over earned right. Earned right opens the door to opportunity. Birthright and marital right opens the door to greed and entitlement. Look for more on the "earned right" culture in the next posting.
Posted by Dan Schneider on July 26, 2007 | Comments (0)
