Repeating the Same Thing Expecting Different Results PART 3: Breaking the Cycle; How to Stop the “Insanity”
If Part One explored the individual blind spots that keep us trapped in ineffective patterns, Part Two pulled back the lens to examine the organizational forces that make these ruts even deeper. The takeaway is sobering: even when people “know better,” companies often still do the same thing over and over—because the culture, systems, and leadership all conspire to keep the familiar in place.
Recognizing the problem is the critical first step. It might sound almost cliché, but it’s true: you have to admit you have a problem before you can fix it. Many auto dealership professionals, for example, pride themselves on being proactive and results-driven – so it’s hard to swallow the idea that we might be spinning our wheels using the same old tactics. But embracing that humility sets the stage for meaningful change.
Here are some practical steps and strategies (both individual and organizational) to overcome the challenge of repeating the same thing expecting new results:
Actively Seek Out Blind Spots: Make it a habit to pause and reflect on your own practices. Ask yourself tough questions: “Are we truly trying something new, or just polishing the same old routine?” One technique is to bring in outside perspectives – whether it’s a consultant (someone like yourself in a strategic role), a mentor, or even a peer from another dealership. They can often spot the “obvious” things you’re too close to see. Within your team, encourage an outsider mentality: rotate people into different roles or teams to get fresh eyes on longstanding processes.
The goal is to counter the natural bias that tells you everything is fine. As leadership expert Steve Tashjian advises, surround yourself with people who are willing to tell you when you’re wrong. If you only have yes-men, your blind spots will never be illuminated. Deliberately place intelligent critics in your circle – they are invaluable for challenging the status quo in a constructive way.
Foster a Culture of Honest Feedback (and Listen to It): Create an environment where negative results or bad news aren’t swept under the rug. This means normalizing discussions of failure. Some companies have started holding “failure forums” or candid post-mortems – what Chicago Booth’s experts call “screw-up nights” where employees share mistakes and lessons learned. The point is to remove the stigma of admitting something didn’t work. When people aren’t afraid for their jobs or reputations, they’re more likely to flag the fact that a certain approach has been tried five times and still isn’t working.
For a dealership, this could be as simple as weekly debriefs on lost sales deals or customer complaints: dissect what went wrong in a non-accusatory way. Managers should model this by openly reflecting on their own missteps. When a negative result comes in (a down month, a failed promotion), resist the urge to explain it away.
Instead, analyze it: what is it telling us about our methods? Remember, if you ignore the negative feedback, you’re essentially choosing to not learn and to repeat the mistake. Reward employees who bring up inconvenient truths or propose alternatives – this sends the message that doing something different is valued more than protecting egos.
Break the Habit with Small Experiments: One reason we repeat the same strategy is the false comfort that “at least we know it” – whereas trying something new feels risky. To get over this hump, start with small changes. Rather than overhauling everything (which can be overwhelming), identify one aspect of your process that you suspect isn’t yielding results, and try a different tactic there.
For instance, if your dealership’s sales calls have had the same script for years, have a few salespeople test a new script for a month and compare outcomes. The LinkedIn strategist Arch Downie calls this narrowing the knowing-doing gap by “finding one small action that you can change” – proving to yourself that change is possible and beneficial. These small wins build confidence to tackle bigger changes. It’s the opposite of “insanity” – it’s experimentation.
Approach your business like a scientist: form a hypothesis (“Maybe doing X instead of Y will improve leads”), run a controlled experiment, and observe the result. This mindset turns the pursuit of different results into a systematic process rather than a blind hope.
Institutionalize Learning and Memory: To avoid organizational amnesia, put systems in place that capture lessons learned. This could mean maintaining a knowledge base or playbook that notes which strategies have been tried and what the outcomes were. When new employees or managers join, onboard them with that historical context so they don’t unknowingly retry a failed approach from five years ago. Regular retrospectives (after projects, campaigns, or quarters) should be a staple – not just focusing on what went well, but explicitly on what didn’t and why.
If turnover is high, consider how to make critical knowledge stick around: mentorship programs, documentation, and cross-training can help. The University of Texas study on safety errors is a cautionary tale – companies that don’t keep focus eventually slip back and repeat the same errors. So make “organizational memory” part of your culture.
Even a simple practice like an end-of-month team review with a standing agenda item: “What did we try this month that didn’t work, and what did we learn from it?” can reinforce a learning culture.
Align Incentives with Change: Review how your goals and incentives might be inadvertently promoting “more of the same.” If employees only get rewarded for hitting certain volume metrics, they might chase those by doing what they know, rather than innovating. To change behavior, consider incentives for improvement and adaptation.
For example, reward a salesperson not just for raw sales, but for trying a new method of outreach or for sharing a useful insight from a failed deal. When people see that experimentation and honesty are appreciated (not punished), they will be less likely to hide behind old habits. This realignment can be the nudge that shifts a team out of its comfort zone.
Embrace a Mindset of Continuous Improvement: Finally, instill the idea that “different results require different actions.” It sounds obvious, but it must become a mantra that is acted upon, not just known intellectually. Encourage leaders at every level to ask “what if we did this another way?” periodically.
Celebrate those who take initiative to break a pattern (even if it doesn’t always succeed – remember, a failed experiment can still provide valuable knowledge). Likewise, be wary of complacency after success. One paradox of human behavior is that past success can breed future failure – because success can make us complacent and biased, as noted by researchers.
After a win, we might assume our current method is infallible and stick to it too long. To counter this, adopt the practice of “burning the trophies” after celebrating – in other words, don’t let yesterday’s wins lock you into rigid thinking. Maintain a healthy dissatisfaction with “business as usual,” even when things are going fine, so that you’re always scanning for ways to innovate rather than waiting until results decline.
Conclusion: From Insight to Action
Knowing a clever expression is easy – living by it is hard. In the automotive dealership world, as in many businesses, it’s all too common to get stuck in a loop of our own making. We quote “doing the same thing and expecting different results is insanity” while inadvertently doing exactly that. The human psyche biases us to miss the signs in ourselves, and our organizational cultures often reinforce the rut.
However, by understanding the psychology behind this blind spot – from bias blind spots to cognitive inertia – we can begin to catch ourselves before we fall into the trap. By recognizing the organizational factors – culture, groupthink, poor knowledge transfer – we can put guardrails in place to keep our companies learning and adapting.
Most importantly, by taking even small steps to encourage new thinking and honest reflection, we can change the trajectory. The first step is acknowledging that no one is immune to this “insanity.” From there, leaders can model openness to change, teams can feel safe to speak up, and businesses can gradually replace stagnant repetition with agile experimentation.
In the end, the goal is to embed a simple principle into the company’s DNA: Different results demand different approaches. When you truly accept that, it becomes much easier to spot when you’re stuck on repeat – and to pivot toward a new solution. The dealerships and organizations that thrive will be those who not only know the famous expression, but consistently act on its wisdom.
By marrying psychological insight with a willingness to change, you can ensure that you and your organization break free of expecting new outcomes from old ways. In doing so, you’ll stop the insanity loop and steer toward genuine progress – a result we can all happily expect.