High-Achievers, Organizations, and Websites All Run on Code
I rebuilt my website. (Why would I not have someone else do it? Some people like football; some people like knitting; I like technology). Back to the point.
When building websites, you add information and write instructions so the website knows what to show the visitor. In recent years, website builders include a preview pane of what the site SHOULD look like when visitors see it.
Here was the problem. Everything looked correct in the preview pane. The colors, the format, the words—everything appeared precisely as I had designed it. However, each time I checked the public-facing version, I saw mistakes….colors that didn’t load, weird spacing, or words lined up as single-column letters.
Everything I was doing was correct, but I couldn’t get the outcome I wanted.
Eventually, I learned that the website cache overrode my decisions. The cache serves a function: it keeps copies of files readily available so the website can load quickly. A cache acts as the default—it says, “hey, here is a copy of the self-confidence page; let’s just use that instead of rebuilding it from scratch.” Hence, the new design wasn’t showing correctly until I deleted the cache so that the default was no longer available.
I discovered another problem. The word “code” stands for instructions one gives to a website. I was providing new instructions, but they didn’t seem to be working. Similar to the cache problem, when I dug in, I found residual code from the previous rendition of the website. Essentially, my new instructions were conflicting with the old ones. The website said, “hey, thanks for the thought, but I like the old instructions better.” I had to delete the old code before the new one worked.
Why a High-Achieving Mindset Alone Doesn’t Guarantee Results
The attention-grabbing part of this learning experience is that I put a lot of time and effort into the new instructions. I am tenacious and stuck with the tedious parts. My attitude remained positive. However, despite these high-performance thoughts and my execution of perfect new code, I didn’t see the results until I deleted the old files and instructions.
This is where it gets interesting for high achievers. We can bring knowledge, intentionality, goal-setting, and motivational tactics into play and still have diminished results — not because the new approach is wrong, but because our brains are wired to work with the cheapest path to action. It’s called cognitive parsimony. There isn’t enough bandwidth to think deeply about every action or thought in our day, so we take the fast route. And the fastest route is the code that has been stored for a long time and is easily retrievable.
In cognitive psychology, these stored defaults are called “core schemas” — the profound beliefs we view as truth. In the same way that we assume the sky is blue, we have sets of instructions about how the world works. We may not have upgraded these beliefs since second grade, but they still guide our actions. Some people might go to therapy for years but fail to implement changes that conflict with their core beliefs. Similarly, organizations and teams often have a core schema — a belief about the way business works that the most astute consultant or change management process may have difficulty slicing through because, like my website code, it may be hidden in the background.
The result looks the same across contexts. As business leaders, we may try new approaches and become disenchanted with the results. In relationships, we may want a fresh start, but the underlying baggage creates communication difficulties because we run new information through old filters. The method may have been right. We may have been trying to layer a new set of instructions onto old code.
How to Recognize the Old Code
My website fiasco stunned me because of the degree to which all the new instructions LOOKED right. Without digging, I may have assumed something was wrong with my approach. Also, caching old files is generally a good thing; it improves efficiency in most circumstances. However, it became problematic when I needed the new files to override the old ones.
The experience left me with questions before answers. Here are the ones I’m asking:
Where am I trying to write new code — and is there old code competing with it?
Where do I revert to old approaches, and why?
Am I attached to the old files? Is the cache — the option for quick retrieval and execution — my safety net? Do I keep them because they are comfortable and familiar? If so, how do I let go of the old file so the new ones can take hold?
Over the years, I have asked myself a set of questions. What is working? What isn’t working? Why? Am I doing something because I’ve always done it or because it’s the best approach? I’m going to add one now — “what is the code that is driving my outcomes?”
How to Write Better Code and Engrave New Defaults
One of the first things to understand is that code is neurological. In the same way that sports training conditions us to move in a certain way and to make some movements automatic, repeated thought patterns condition our neurons to fire easily and automatically. Think about learning a new language or a new industry. At first, the process is effortful. However, with continued practice, that effort becomes less as your brain automatizes the learning.
One of the reasons people fail to develop new code is that they don’t make the attempt at thought into a new habit. The problem with thought patterns, cultural patterns, and worldviews is that they are systematized and have been reinforced many times. Hence, changing them requires ongoing and effortful questioning of the code. Our old thought codes can’t be completely eradicated, but they can become occasional echoes instead of the silent roars that drive us.
This is equally true at the organizational level. Long-standing principles that may no longer serve don’t change with a single strategy summit, a cultural consultant, or a new initiative. The principles need to be reverse-engineered first — to understand how the code got there, why it exists, the usefulness it gave us, and why it is now hurting us. Only when those principles or ways of working are challenged can we start breaking them down in order to form a new foundation for what serves us better today.
If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. And yet it’s not. Most of the effort is about intentionality. When I am seeking to change my own code, I journal about it, speak with mentors and friends, analyze myself (a lot), and assess how it may be impacting multiple areas of my life. When I work with organizations, I’m not thinking about one-off interventions but rather about multi-faceted approaches that sync with the work rather than adding additional load.
What do you get for the effort? Agency. Hope. Results. Alignment. Fulfillment. Sleep.
Clear the cache. Delete the code. You’ve got this.
Dr. Tricia Groff is an executive coach, psychologist, confidante, and strategic partner, and author of Relational Genius. She works with high-achieving executives on intersecting systems of personal, business, and emerging change. drtriciagroff.com