Why don't we follow good advice?

Today, I was pondering the question of why people don’t follow the advice given to them. I believe there are several potential explanations regarding why we don’t do what is suggested, assuming the advice is good.

One reason is that the person really does not understand the advice. We need to be sure to listen carefully, ask questions, take notes or ask for visual aids to ensure we fully understand the advice being provided. The key to understanding is to know what to do, how to do it and the logic underlying the recommended actions.

Another potential reason is that we don’t fully trust the person giving us the advice. In other words, we question whether or not their expertise is valid regarding the subject the advice is being offered on. One way in which we can validate their expertise is through questioning. Before taking advice, I first make sure I fully understand what is being recommended and why. Unless the full logic makes sense to me, I won’t act on the advice. I check it using cause-and-effect logic in general and based on knowledge I have acquired in life thus far.

Another reason for not following someone’s advice relates to the difference between what was explained and what actions you took to implement it. When I learned how to write Strategy and Tactic trees, I realized how important it is to clearly explain actions in terms of what the action is for and why the action is the best choice for achieving the objective. The only way a person can follow advice well is by fully understanding the advice. For example, it is not just about knowing the rules. When you know the rules and the logic of the rules, you can understand what to do in different situations. Then, you will know how and when to break a rule effectively to still achieve the desired objective.

Are people good or bad?

Years ago, this question was posed to me in a late night discussion with Eli Goldratt. Actually, the question was about whether people should be considered good or 'not bad.' This subject came up because his son Rami and he had reached different conclusions. One of them thought people are good, while the other thought people are not bad. What do we mean by this? Well the question is really about whether in general people are good or not.

I have reached the conclusion that, in general, people are good. I think that the vast majority of people want to do good for themselves, for their loved ones, friends and for their work. That doesn’t always mean the actions they are taking will achieve a good result. It was Reuven Brenner who stated that “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

It is important to make sure that people understand how to ensure that their actions do achieve the intended result (of course, assuming this is a positive change or result desired). That is what TOC provides, an effective way to think. TOC involves surfacing and challenging assumptions, evaluating decisions using cause-and-effect logic and other tools for guiding more effective thinking processes.

First, we need to start with a good objective or target – to clearly state it in writing. Then we can use the TOC Thinking Processes (TP) to figure out how to effectively reach that goal. The TP provide generic methods for figuring out what the problem is or what the pot of gold target is (what to change), what to change to and how to cause the change.

This isn’t sufficient though. What is needed is the understanding about what information needs to go into the TP analysis to ensure that the desired results are achieved. I will talk more about this so-called information in future blogs.