Overcoming Habituation: Break the Monotony with Company Culture

Bored Professional

Every bright and shiny new thing becomes ordinary when its presentation is repeated.  A once noisy train becomes something we don’t even hear. The smell of freshly baked bread fades as we spend time in a coffee shop. Starting a workday at a dreamy “new” job becomes as monotonous as Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day. When we respond less and less to things we are exposed to repeatedly, we experience a psychological phenomenon known as habituation. In the context of company culture, habituation can manifest as complacency and reduced motivation. Here are ways to overcome the monotony of habituation through company culture.  

Habituation Defined

Habituation’s purpose stems back to evolution.  We adapt to our surroundings because we need to always be on high alert for new threats (Limbong, NPR). In other words, we  have to process new information so we are ready to take on more. Even on vacation, we experience the most happiness at the beginning of the trip and then habituation kicks in and other days are slightly less enjoyable, according to a tourism company survey (Limbong).  

Habituation and Company Culture

In any structured environment, humans create habits as guides through our days.  Habits can be beneficial and small habits can change our lives in big ways.  For example, we may get ready for work in a certain order, eat the same breakfast, or have a scheduled daily meeting.  Habits create stability, but can soon lead to habituation which can quickly lead to monotony, restlessness, and decreased motivation.  “Habituation has its downsides,” says Henry Venter, LinkedIn. “Complacency can set in if we get too used to our surroundings and tasks.  We may fail to notice changes that require a response.  Habituation can also lead to resistance to workplace changes and reduced motivation over time.” Company culture and creativity can suffer as workers become bored, depressed, and unmotivated by doing the exact same thing for too long. 

Seven Ways to Overcome Habituation

Every organization has to have organizational structure, but there are ways to harness the power of variety and reduce habituation. 

  1. Change up job descriptions periodically.  Trade tasks or set a schedule where roles (such as leading meetings) change every six months.
  2. Hold a weekly team huddle to talk about variety and growth. “Teams we’ve worked with hold an hour-long team huddle once a week in which each person answers three questions directed at encouraging 1) Play: What did I learn this week? 2) Purpose: What impact did I have this week 3) Potential: What do I want to learn next week?” (McGregor and Doshi, Harvard Business Review)
  3. Offer flexible work arrangements- hybrid, work from home, in office, travel.
  4. Vary routines: go on a walking meeting, vary the time of day for meetings, play music, incorporate surprise recognitions of good work into traditional presentations.
  5. Create experiences. Get behind a social cause and volunteer as a staff or go to a sporting event together. “Look to experiences versus things.  If you buy a new car, outfit, phone, or whatever, you tend to habituate quite fast.  But when it comes to experiences, like a concert, a lecture or a night out, if the experience was good, you tend to retrieve it in your mind every so often, and it still has quite a high amount of joy associated with it,” says Andrew Limbong, NPR.
  6. Revamp the workspace- reconfigure office layouts, trade office spaces, redecorate.  Google is a company known for its creativity.  The company frequently rotates job roles, and has unconventional office designs to always stimulate and inspire employees.
  7. Change personal routines: Get a standing desk and stand for at least an hour a day.  Add in a mid-day walk outside.  Meet different people for lunch.  Change the order of your day.  Learn a new skill.  Seek out a mentor.  These are all ways to decrease habituation.

Company culture varies greatly within organizations. For some of us, a job change may be the answer to feelings of monotony and the best way to overcome habituation.  Please turn to the excellent recruiters at Artemis Consultants to discuss our current opportunities.

-Written exclusively for Artemis Consultants by Business Content Writer Mellody Melville

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