Some years back I wrote an article on LinkedIn arguing that you should not promise big changes, but rather take small steps instead. The focus of it was how easy it is to make bold promises of change and how hard they are to actually are to keep…both personally and within organisations.
I’m not going to restate the article (instead, I highly recommend you take a moment to read it yourself!) but what I proposed was essentially the idea of making consistent, incremental changes over time. It’s not a new idea at all, but it requires deliberate practice.
There’s a Japanese concept that perfectly encapsulates this approach, and it has become a cornerstone in Lean methodology. Known as Kaizen, this philosophy has become synonymous with the practice of Continuous Improvement, which is a fundamental principle of Lean thinking and organizational growth.
While small incremental changes are preferred and most organizations would benefit from more of it, sometimes a radical change is needed. Sometimes a radical change or shift is warranted.
There’s a Japanese term for this too; in Lean it’s called Kaikaku. The word roughly translates into “radical change”. Kaikaku describes fundamental change of an organization. It is completely overturning the existing modus operandi and should happen during a limited time period because otherwise it might cause more harm that good for the organization.
Much of what is called Transformation by name, becomes Translation by action
When we talk about Transformation, this is usually what it means; a complete change into something which is unlike what has been before – Kaikaku. The purpose often being to accomplish a step change which enables continuous improvement, Kaizen, in a new direction. However, much of what is called Transformation by name, becomes Translation by action. What I mean by that is that instead of fueling radical change, most efforts become focused on preserving the status quo by using new events, roles and tools but leaving underlying mindset, reward systems, governance structures and behavior largely unchallenged.
How come? It doesn’t take much time browsing your favorite online bookstore (try searching change – I found more than 100.000 books on the subject) to realize that many are searching for a way to make sustainable change happen, both in their personal life and in organizations. And sadly, even though many of the books make bold promises about easy ways to accomplish this, there are no “cut and paste” solutions which work for anyone and anywhere.
In business as well as personal life we often underestimate the long-term effects of small, consistent changes and overestimate the short-term gains from large, disruptive change. Change takes time so why not commit to consistently making small deliberate changes, observe what effects they have and then adjust based on that?
Drop a message if you want to discuss how your organization can improve your change habits.
