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Tampering!  It is called “tampering”, that’s when you make changes to a system without knowing and understanding the process and system capability.  And it is something that is done in most business by people that have great intentions but are sadly making things worse.  What “results” from tampering is greater uncertainty, higher unreliability, and usually a more complex system.  And, because of all of that, the changes are unsustainable and things will slowly drift back to the way they were before you messed with it. 

This is the time of year that we see the most tampering.  Not necessarily in our business life but rather in our personal lives.  New Year’s Resolutions are the best example of tampering I know of.  Rather than taking the time to understand the amount and type of calories that are going into the body and how they are being processes and burned-up or converted to fat, most overweight people will simply vow to “hit the gym”.  And hit the gym they do!  And then they hit the gym floor (it was not a coincidence that the local paramedics camped-out at our local YMCA on January 2nd).  If it’s not the gym they are hitting it will be the food they will suddenly deprive themselves of until they are so hungry or pissed at the world that they will “give up” only to try again next Monday.  That cycle will repeat until (and thankfully) they realize they are fatter and have worse metabolic numbers than before.

And when these changes fail they will feel like failures.  And the best way to comfort a failure?  Yep, hunkerdown with a fat brownie and a bowl of ice-cream.  STOP with the resolutions, you are making things worse.  Instead, get your ass to an Exercise Physiologist or a Nutritionist or an MD and get a “work-up” to understand what is going on in your chemistry and with their help design a “new process” for living your life.  You will find that just small, incremental changes will have a more profound impact on your well being and they will be sustainable.

One last tip …don’t think about what you are giving up, instead think about what you are adding to yourself and to your family.

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