Bad Habits are simply bad processes

I was walking to the train today (or as I call it "The Scumbag Express") and saw a chappy lingering on the last draws of his cigarette before he entered the train station. He took a deep draw, threw the cigarette to the ground, stamped it out and walked off. This made me think. If I drank my morning coffee and threw it away like that - would I get away with it? Probably not...

Why did he think it was OK to do this? Well, it's not OK, but to him it's normal, it's a habit that has become accepted by society (although not for long!). When you think about it, a habit is just a process that has become part of a person's ingrained behaviour. Often these habits are bad ones, just like our cancer sucking friend.

The same is true for organisations. Often bad habits come from bad processes that have developed over time and have become "the way things are done". Habits are notoriously hard to break, but the best way to stop them is to prevent them from happening in the first place, which is why it is important to continually improve and examine processes, rather than to spend time and money later trying to kick a habit. Also, the longer a bad habit continues in an organisation the more it is accepted as the norm (just like society tolerating the smoking man's littering). Everything can be changed for the better but the longer you leave a bad habit the more difficult it becomes.

Do you have a process habit that needs fixed? Share it with me here and I'll try to help!