5 Reasons to Kill Auto-Pilot

[Rosa Say]

Auto-pilot in the workplace can cripple your efforts with employee engagement, and you want to be on the look-out for it.

Take a look at the five bullet points I offer in an article written for Talking Story with Say Leadership Coaching this morning and have a Talk Story about Stopping: 5 Reasons to Kill Auto-Pilot.

Can we share some other examples of auto-pilot here, helping each other watch for them?

[David Zinger]

Rosa,
Auto-pilot is such a good word for mindlessness. Our mindful approach to work can make such a significant difference to us, to others, and to our work. I think beginning each new task with one conscious in breath and out breath can help take me off of auto-pilot and put me into the drivers seat.

[Tim Wright]

Rosa -

The most common cause of Auto-Pilot (ness? dom? ism?) is the Comfort Zone. You certainly refer to it in other terms and make it clear that it is too warm and cozy a place to leave.

I think a primary cause of relaxing/relapsing to Auto-Pilot is the Fear Combo:

Fear of Failure...to try something new means we may not succeed. Nothing's worse than the prospect of "earning" an F.

Fear of Unknown...taking control from the Auto-Pilot means we have to take on some new knowledge. Not knowing the (re)sources for that knowledge can only compound our fear of failure.

Fear of Who Cares?...humans psychologically need recognition and reinforcement. We are pat-on-the-back hungry much of the time. If we fear no one will be there to cheer us on, give us the "Good job, mate!", we allow the first to fears (Failure and Unknown) to wield even greater staying power...as in staying on Auto-Pilot.

[Rosa Say]

David, mindlessness is a good word to add to the workplace vocabulary: Thank you. No one wants to be zombie-like, and the association with mindlessness puts auto-pilot in the proper perspective!

Tim, I think you are nailing it with comfort zone. To a certain degree comfort is, well, comforting. However those fears you mention are so much more inhibiting.

When you look at this from another angle, we are creating a good checklist for managers to be on the look-out for when they are passionate about cultivating more engagement for their staff. Thanks guys!