About Becoming Better

You don’t know when you will fail until you got there.

Often it is quite easy to understand, when we have become better. We feel that we are successful in doing something. Problems are solved or procedures make sense to us. But, looking at the results does not really describe how we got there. Would we be able to reproduce the process and become better in other areas doing the same again?

Obviously it would be great if we would know upfront what it takes exactly to become better, as we could plan for it much more efficiently. Reading many books, practicing things we have learned, literally taking any arbitrary action will take time. But, it does not automatically have the desired effect of becoming better. We know that it is not that easy.

Finding ways to become better is really important to us, because we want to overcome situations or statuses, from where we know we can be better. Becoming better gives to us a lot of satisfaction and confidence, which is the fuel for intrinsic motivation. It helps us to work towards visions, which seem to be out of reach otherwise. In the end it is also a way to cope with uncertainties we are facing.

You don’t know what it is that makes you feel bad, until you succeed.

When we have become better, we have learned something. We have had some relevant experience. There has been some feedback, on which we can reflect and realize the change we experience from it. There are mechanisms, which make us feel that we have improved.

Individual improvements can be contributed to a group, which will make the group better as well. Even though, the process of getting better as a group often starts beforehand. Trying to become better can have an impact on a group already, as long as the group is aware of it or even pushes for it.

To some extend we seem to be able to create efficiency in becoming better from collaboration in groups, organizations, or other structure. Humans have organized in tribes, settled down in villages, established services, started to work in plants and factories, and thereby evolved towards the foundation of todays forms of communities. This is based on the need to scale in becoming better.

Becoming better can be relevant not only for oneself, but also for a community. It often gets exposed to the public. We know that this exposure can create a lot of pressure for people, who are exposed to some expectations from a group or community. This pressure can even be worse, if expectations are set. We are supposed to become better in doing something, but do not know how to achieve it.

As there is no guarantee that we find a way to become better, expectations can make us sick. This is a phenomenon we can see today more often than ever. We are challenged to cope with it and find ways in coming around these problems.

Becoming better is not unconditional.

While becoming better itself is almost impossible to plan, we know that the process of becoming better can be supported by several means. Otherwise books, training courses, or blog posts like this would not exist. Considering this, we at least have some starting points:

• Resources – offer resources to make people work better (e.g. trainings, literature, access to expertise, people to talk to, …)
• Environment – create an environment, which offers conditions to support people in becoming better (e.g. appropriate workplaces, meeting places, culture, colleagues, topics, profession, location…)
• Timelines – work towards small steps and accept that it takes individual time to become better (e.g. time for ideation, understanding, learning, experience, …)
• Attitude – foster an attitude amongst people which is targeted towards intrinsic motivation by enabling autonomy and mastery and providing orientation from purpose (e.g. values, motivation, open-mindedness, experimentation, …)