Last week, I wrote about the distinction between state orientation and action orientation, two concepts from psychological research that help explain how people respond when their efforts aren’t producing the results they want.
People demonstrating state orientation may become preoccupied with setbacks, dwelling on what went wrong or worrying about what might happen next. People demonstrating action orientation are generally better able to move beyond that frustration and redirect their attention toward purposeful action.
I suggested three steps for moving from state orientation toward action orientation: recognize when you’re becoming stuck, take a small action to restore your sense of control, and redirect your attention toward what you can influence.
But what happens when you’ve done those things and your efforts still aren’t producing the results you want?
Sometimes the answer isn’t simply to keep trying. Sometimes we need to reconsider what we are doing, what we are trying to accomplish, or the circumstances in which we are pursuing our goals.
Understanding the Relationship Between Environment, Behavior, and Outcomes
When I work with leaders who are struggling to achieve an important goal, I encourage them to examine the relationship between their circumstances, their behaviors, and their intended outcomes.
The starting point is a simple statement:
In this environment, I am demonstrating these behaviors with the intention of achieving this outcome.
Consider someone who has been working toward an executive promotion. The environment is the organization where they currently work, including its culture, leadership structure, and opportunities for advancement. The behaviors are the actions they’re taking to prepare for and pursue that promotion. Perhaps they’re working long hours, accepting additional responsibilities, developing new capabilities, and demonstrating their commitment. The intended outcome is advancement into an executive position.
But despite their efforts, the promotion hasn’t happened. What should they do?
Once we make the relationship between environment, behavior, and intended outcome explicit, we can begin considering three possibilities.
1. Can I Change My Behaviors?
Sometimes the goal is appropriate and the environment offers opportunities for success, but our current approach isn’t producing the desired results.
Perhaps you’re seeking a promotion but haven’t developed the relationships necessary to be considered for advancement. Perhaps you’re trying to improve a working relationship but continue communicating in ways that create defensiveness.
Rather than repeating the same behaviors and hoping for a different result, consider what you might do differently. What new approach could increase the likelihood of achieving your goal?
Sometimes relatively small changes in behavior can produce significantly different results.
But sometimes, even after we’ve changed our approach, the outcome remains elusive. That’s when we may need to reconsider the outcome itself.
2. Can I Change My Intended Outcome?
Sometimes we become so attached to a particular outcome that we overlook other possibilities.
Perhaps the promotion you’ve been pursuing isn’t available, but another opportunity could provide equally valuable professional growth. Maybe a business relationship isn’t developing as you had hoped, but the experience has revealed a different direction worth exploring.
Changing the intended outcome doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning your ambitions. It may mean reconsidering what you’re trying to accomplish and directing your efforts toward something more attainable or meaningful. There’s an important difference between giving up on something because it’s difficult and deciding that your time and effort would be better invested elsewhere.
But what if the outcome is still important to you? What if you’ve reconsidered your behaviors and remain convinced that the goal is worth pursuing?
There may be a third possibility.
3. Can I Change My Environment?
Sometimes the problem isn’t our behavior or our goal. It’s the environment in which we’re trying to achieve it.
You may have the capabilities necessary to advance into an executive position, but the organization where you work offers limited opportunities for advancement. Or, you may have a valuable professional service to offer, but you’re trying to sell it to people who don’t recognize its value.
In those circumstances, continuing to invest effort in the same environment may produce more frustration than progress.
Perhaps the most effective choice is to take your capabilities, ambitions, and efforts somewhere else. An environment that doesn’t reward your efforts doesn’t necessarily mean those efforts lack value. Sometimes success requires finding a different place to invest them.
From Persistence to Purposeful Action
We often admire persistence, and for good reason. Many worthwhile goals require sustained effort, patience, and the ability to overcome setbacks. But persistence without reflection can become an exercise in repeating behaviors that aren’t producing results.
Action orientation doesn’t mean working harder, moving faster, or refusing to acknowledge disappointment. It means being able to recognize what you’re experiencing, regain control of your attention, and make deliberate choices about what to do next.
When your efforts aren’t producing the results you want, consider the relationship between your environment, your behaviors, and your intended outcome.
You may discover that you need to change what you’re doing.
You may decide that a different outcome is worth pursuing.
Or you may recognize that it’s time to take your efforts somewhere else.
You can’t always control whether your efforts produce the outcome you want. But you can take responsibility for deciding what to do when they don’t.