Whack! She smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. Jackie, a successful management consultant and expert in organizational change, had just applied one of her most basic models of organizational behavior to her own life. The result was an “ah ha” moment.

At the simplest level, the model she used outlines four common responses to change among employees:

• Navigator – capitalizes on the problem or change

• Critic – criticizes without providing solutions

• Bystander – waits to see what will happen

• Victim – blames others for the change

Jackie is a go-to-person and a problem-solver who would be classified as a “Navigator” at work. But when she looks closely at her behavior around personal goals, she sees the majority of her time is spent as the Victim or Bystander.

Listing specific situations where she adopts these behaviors, Jackie sees which challenges in her life bring out the various responses. As an expert in this model she is well versed in advising clients in how to address these behaviors. Now she turns her training on herself for some excellent self-coaching.

Along with personal insight, Jackie also has a new understanding which serves her consulting work. She had automatically assumed the Victim role was “bad,” but now has more compassion for the victims within her client organizations, and a good idea of how people fall into these roles.

It is powerful to use something we know well in one context to create a whole new perspective within another context. Take the ubiquitous “80/20” rule, for instance. It’s thrown around in business all the time: “80% of revenue from 20% of customers” or “80% of the value in a project from 20% of the activities” -- these evaluations show where to focus our energies on the job. What if you looked at your personal life through this lens? If 80% of your satisfaction is coming from 20% of your activities, where do you want to focus your energy?

Can you think of other professional frameworks could provide new ideas for your personal life? See what you can come up with! In the meantime, try applying Jackie’s model for yourself:

Exercise: When do you play the Victim, Bystander, Critic or Navigator?

Apply the organizational change framework to your own life: Write Victim, Bystander, Critic and Navigator across the top of a page, creating 4 columns. List specific situations where you exemplify these attitudes. What percent of your daily life is represented in each column? When you’ve identified the areas where you fall into these roles, you can take successful action from any of these mindsets.

For Victim: Look at this column for ways to take charge of things you can influence. What is one thing you want to take control of this week?

For Bystander: Look at this column for ways you can learn more about the situation, get involved in the process and contribute to a solution. What is one thing you want to get more involved in this week?

For Critic: Look at this column for ways you can apply your creativity to come up with solutions and perhaps work with other people to make a change. What is one creative solution you can offer this week?

For Navigator: Revel in the possibilities and opportunities you see! What is one action you choose to celebrate this week?