How do you manage change that is so slow it's hardly noticeable?
The ability to anticipate and manage change is a critical leadership skill. The first step in being a change leader is recognizing the four types of change: cyclical; structural; exponential and incremental. In this article, we’ll focus on incremental change.
Both incremental change and exponential change share the power of compounding. The difference is in the speed. Exponential change is rapid, while incremental change is so slow that it is hardly noticeable until the result shows up months or even years later.
Albert Einstein once described compounding as, “the most powerful thing in the universe.” Warren Buffet was asked about his investing secrets. He answered, being born in America and having good enough genes to live long enough to benefit from compounding.
In his book, “The Slight Edge,” Jeff Olson states, “Your life and your business are a printout created by the simple decisions you make consistently compounded over time.”
The Truth About What You Do Today
Your decision to do 10 push-ups today or to connect with 10 of your salespeople today won’t change your body or your company today. Done consistently over time, they will. These simple activities are easy to do, but are also easy not to do. In the short run, there is little or no result from doing them or consequence for not doing them. This is what is so insidious yet powerful about incremental change.
Most business people want “quantum leaps” and “silver bullet” solutions. They are not patient enough for the big payoffs of compounded incremental change, so they are unwilling to do the work in the short run. They see no short-term gain. Salespeople are notorious for wanting the quick fix, as are some managers. One solution: Have your key people read, “The Slight Edge,” and have a discussion about the power of incremental change.
Focus on Managing; Not Production
A second solution is to have them focus on managing activities rather than production. We know that production comes from the small, incremental activities of our sales associates and managers. For most sales associates, their production is a result of their activities 45 to 90 days earlier. If they stop their activities today, they don’t feel the consequence today. They feel it in 45 to 90 days.
Managers, who stop doing their daily flow or recruiting activities, don’t see an immediate consequence today. The company doesn’t have a blowout. It just develops a slow leak. Declining production, profits, and market share follow in 90 days.
Help your people focus on daily productive activities practiced consistently over time and put the power of incremental change to work for you.
This article appeared in REAL Trends Newsletter and is being reprinted with permission of REAL Trends, Copyright 2014.