Why Insight Matters (Vol. 6)

There is increasing demand for employees in organizations to change their behaviors quickly. Markets, technology, and business processes change in what seem to be faster and faster cycles. Guiding employees to adapt their behavior simply cannot be addressed rapidly enough with older approaches to behavior change, such as annual reviews, goal setting exercises, or pay-for-performance schemes. Rather, a much quicker, more flexible, and employee-driven approach to regular—as needed—change is warranted. A surprising solution comes from research into how people change their thinking. We review existing research about self-generated insight, and conclude that it may be one of the more useful tools in changing behavior.