The Gap Between Knowing and Doing

Posted by Ann Deaton Share Your Voice

I've been wondering lately why we don’t always do what we want to do, what we know we should do.  For instance, I want to exercise daily and sometimes I let other things get in the way. I know I should stay in better touch with friends and family than I do. I could do better follow up with my clients. What gets in my way of doing these things? I enjoy them all and yet I don’t always do them. Why?

Recently I've begun to find some answers in three wonderful books:

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard is a book by Chip and Dan Heath that explains why it's so hard to direct our behavior. Though many reasons and strategies are shared in the book, one of my favorite insights comes from the notion that we sometimes don't make choices to act because we have too many choices! When we simplify our path and reduce the number of choices, it becomes much easier to focus and to choose effectively. An analogy that the Heaths use throughout the book is that of ourselves as Elephant (heart, impulse), Rider (mind, plan, intention), and Path. All three elements need to be aligned if we are to go in the direction we intend. This explains why our Rider is so ineffective guiding our Elephant when the two don’t agree and the Path is unclear. Reading Switch offers many how to’s as far as beginning to act in the way we say we want to.

The Knowing-Doing Gap:How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action by Bob Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer is more focused on organizations than on individuals. This book identifies the obstacles to action that businesses face and why knowing what to do is not enough. Importantly, the book tells stories about successful companies who have learned to overcome the knowing-doing gap and make their actions match their intentions.

Another piece to the puzzle of why we don't do what we really want to do is provided by Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan & Lisa Lahey. Lahey and Kegan provide a way to look at our goals, the behaviors that support them and the actions that work against our goal achievement. In the process, we also learn that one of our biggest enemies can be our underlying assumptions. Identifying these assumptions brings to light the biggest obstacle to action, and opens the path to effectiveness.

I love that there are so many methods these days to help us with even the most challenging problem we have. In this case, it is the simple, and universal, one of doing what we say we will. Now you too have the resources to accomplish what you have always wanted to .

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Ann Deaton I am a leadership coach, and Managing Partner in Bounce. I love to coach and facilitate with individuals and systems experiencing significant change and growth. The clients I work with, regardless of their age or position, are talented and creative individuals willing to look with fresh eyes at their challenges and opportunities, and to take action based on their discoveries. As a result, they find that they are capable of accomplishing far greater things than they ever imagined. What do you want to accomplish today? Who do you want to be?