Whenever I talk to anyone about making changes in their organization or their life, the same buzzwords come up. “Culture” is one. “Fear of change” is another. “Get started” comes up a lot. And of course we need “leadership.”
Before proceeding, I wish to again mention that while we have several metric tons of books on how to deal with these issues, they don’t work. They sound great “on paper,” but when applied to real life, things don’t move. At some point we have to ask why that is.
The word “stupid” often crops up. Having written a book on this subject I am always very interested in the way people use the word “stupid” . . . and in this case, so often what happens is, someone will make what they feel is an extremely logical argument for doing things differently, and the person(s) to whom this argument is addressed will nod their heads, and then continue to do things the exact same way they always have. At this point, well, how else to explain it, except to say they must be mentally defective, since they do not respond to logical argument, and they don’t seem to be aware of the bad consequences that will come from their actions (hence, “stupid”).*
At this point I would like to carefully re-define the word. “Stupid” comes from a latin word meaning “to be astonished,” as in “stupified.” In modern nomenclature, this is a state of trance or hypnosis. It’s not that people are mentally defective in terms of their ability to do schoolwork or solve a sudoku puzzle. They are, however, generally unable to overcome the power of their own internal hypnosis. Every person carries in them a hidden belief system of what they think is required of them and what is permissible, and those subconscious beliefs are far more powerful in terms of what will actually get done today than any logical argument.
Such hypnosis seems to result from our roles in larger social systems. “Culture” can be defined as weird things that people do to denote their membership in a group. As children, we are eager to belong, as our survival depends upon it, and some groups require some pretty severe abandonment of logic and/or self interest in order to belong. (One example, my desire to “belong” to a major orchestra drove me to pound on my body for months at a time in stuffy practice rooms. Made no sense to do that, except I wanted the sense of belonging, which was itself a kind of hypnotic illusion.)
There is a saying that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” I would re-word this as “the hypnotic rules for social acceptance trump any abstract argument.” Or maybe, “The subconscious mind always defeats the conscious mind.” If you wish to initiate change in yourself or in others, the use of logic is largely a waste of time. You have to deal with the hypnosis.
But when I say that, let’s get to a most important point: Within yourself, you are not starting from zero with a blank slate. Let’s be aware that you yourself have already been hypnotized, possibly in terms of believing that you lack permission to do certain things, or that other people will consistently react negatively to certain aspects of yourself or your thoughts. If you truly believe that idea with all your “heart,” and if your own state of hypnosis is not recognized, no amount of logical approaches will overcome it. Something will just “not feel right,” and the energy will stop in doubt or confusion.
So even though you don’t think you are hypnotized, take moment and ask why you are eating this brand of cereal, buying name brand aspirin, or having a visceral reaction to the name of certain politicians you have never met. If you have any of these behaviors/symptoms, you have been hypnotized. If you want to make real changes in your life or inspire others to do so, this is where it happens.
(c) Justin Locke
*Of course, embedded in use of the word “stupid” is a vainglorious hope that a big slug of shaming disapproval will move people to altered actions. Again, rarely works, except to make people freeze up. Note my book “Principles of Applied Stupidity” is how to use these subconscious thoughts and reactions in others to your advantage.
