‘In Greek mythology was a king punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity.’
‘In experiments that test how workers respond when the meaning of their task is diminished, the test condition is referred to as the Sisyphusian condition. The two main conclusions of the experiment are that people work harder when their work seems more meaningful, and that people underestimate the relationship between meaning and motivation’
Sometimes as individuals and leaders we fall into this trap, we tried to change things and it didn’t work, this caused us to be fearful so we resolved not to let that happen again and took the safe route. We make compromises with our values, we start saying things like ‘another day another dollar’ (or equivalent currency), ‘I wish I had a job that I enjoyed’
I wish means: wouldn’t it be nice if … If you always make the right decision, the safe decision, the one most people make, you will be the same as everyone else. Always wishing life was different. (just like Sisphus) Paul Arden
In fact our brain is hardwired to seek stability and not change as it takes more energy to build new synapsis that are required to retain new information and ways of doing things. Don’t believe me, then think back to when you had to study some new process or qualification, did you feel tired?
To start avoiding the Sisyphus Trap you need to consider
Values & Beliefs Attitude Behaviour
Your values and beliefs influence your attitude and these manifests in your behaviour to yourself and others. When you compromise these too much your attitude will become less positive and this will affect your behaviour.
So step 1 is for you to identify your values e.g. honesty, being creative, team player, recognition, autonomy etc.
Then look at how many you have given up in your current work / home environment. Then plan how you can start to overcome barriers to being ‘valued’ in your life and work. Start with small steps e.g. talking with your boss about other opportunities to be more creative or greater autonomy. When you start planning solutions on how to create links from what you do to your values, you will notice your attitude and behaviour will start to change.
If you are a leader and you notice that your teams attitude, behaviour and motivation is not where it should be then it maybe down to their values being overly compromised. Find out their individual values and help them to see links to what they do. I have run a values exercise with leadership teams many times and it is amazing what sharing values in a safe environment can do.
Summary to escape the Sisyphus Trap
- Re-identify your values
- Make a plan to connect your values to what you do and take action
- Bring meaning and purpose back into what you do in your life through your values
- Recognise and appreciate that people’s values are different
- Be tenacious and recognise the successes you make
Please use the comment box if you have any questions or have experience of this happening in your working world.
If you would like to talk to me about coaching or team development please contact me at mcdougallmartin@aol.com
“It’s Better to Regret What You Have Done Than What You Haven’t“
I wanted to leave you with this great Ted video
Tony Robbins discusses the “invisible forces” that motivate everyone’s actions
The Leadership Express 