“Wait, why do you do that?”
“Wait, why do you do that?”
Thankfully, I kept this thought to myself as my new teammate was sharing the team’s schedule.
Most of the team was based out of the US Mountain timezone, with one team member in Pacific time. And he was telling me that they held their first daily team meeting at 7:30 AM Mountain.
As a consultant joining a new team, I wanted to seek to understand how the team operated before suggesting changes.
And here’s the part that caused my initial question…
I learned that the team had originally picked that schedule a few years before because at the time they were partnering with a team based in Eastern time (2 hours ahead). A reasonable compromise, a way to keep the first meeting fairly early in the other team’s day.
And yet, here they were, 2 years out from working with that East Coast team, still on the shifted schedule.
So, was it working?
Sort of…the Mountain team time-shifted their day from the rest of their organization. The California team member took the call at 6:30 AM, then needed to step away for a shower and to take his kids to school.
And now our new team members were expected to shift our day…to match a schedule adopted to accommodate people who hadn’t been part of the team for more than 2 years.
A bit of a head scratcher, right?
Have you ever found yourself doing something in a way that made sense in the past, but doesn’t anymore?
We often don’t notice when the way we’re doing something shifts away from what serves us. And yet, it happens all the time.
The route we take to work long after the road construction ends.
The agenda we follow for the weekly meeting even after the key stakeholder who pushed for the format leaves the organization.
The way we continue to lead with how much we know even when we’re in a role that should be focused on empowering the team we’re now leading.
It’s easy to see this in others, but it can be harder to see it in ourselves. We often don’t notice how much we (or our circumstances) have changed, while so much has stayed the same.
When you’re wondering if an approach you’re following still makes sense, consider one of these questions:
If you were starting this today, how would you approach it?
Whether it’s a habit, approach, or strategy, considering how you would start it today, if you hadn’t been doing it before, can give you a fresh take on something that may no longer serve you.
How would you structure the weekly team meeting? When is the best time in your week to tackle laundry? How do you want to communicate with your direct reports who used to be your peers?
If you from 5 or 10 years ago were to stop by today, would they feel right at home?
Considering whether the practice your following serves you from the past or you today can help you identify where you’ve changed…and where the things you do need to change, too.
Are you handling your emails the same way you did 5 years ago? What about your workout routine? Your level of preparation before joining a one-on-one with your manager?
If you were training your replacement, is this what you’d want them to do?
Imagine you won the lottery, and the only requirement before you ride off into the sunset was to train your replacement. Would you tell them to do things the way you’re doing them?
Would your replacement speak up differently in strategy sessions? Take another approach to sharing their progress on the big objectives? Care about a different set of metrics?
It’s easy to forget that we’ve changed when our habits haven’t, or we haven’t changed when our circumstances have. Taking a few moments to consider a fresh perspective, how things are (or should be) different from the past, and how someone else might approach the same situation can help us get unstuck and following an approach that works for us today.
Where have you noticed yourself (or your habits) stuck in the past?
Will you send me a message to let me know? I’d love to hear from you.
October 30, 2025
About the author:
Christina Von Stroh is a leadership coach who helps her clients become wildly successful by applying iterative software development practices to achieve their dreams. Want to work with Christina to help you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
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