Are you missing the little things that count?
Les Landes, APR
I help organizations create a high-performance culture of trust where people love to work and customers love doing business.
“All big things come from small beginnings.”
- Atomic Habits, James Clear
Every change, however large or small, carries a trade-off between risk and reward.? When the risk is high and the reward is small, we will usually avoid the change. That’s a no-brainer. Conversely, when the reward is high and the risk is small, the opposite is true – we will usually bet on the odds of a big win. That’s why the lottery is so hugely popular.
People respond somewhat surprisingly, though, when the outcome is less certain. If the risk and the reward are equally small, there’s a 50/50 chance people will go for it.? However, if the risk and the reward are equally high, the likelihood that the average person will take the gamble and go for the reward goes down dramatically. That’s because of a core truth about human nature – we are driven much more by avoiding risk than seeking rewards. We won’t bet the farm even if the potential payoff is huge.
The same principles apply to most decisions and actions in business – with one crucial exception. Companies tend to put so much emphasis on the big gains that come from the occasional home runs, that they discount the huge value that can come from the cumulative gains of countless small improvements over time – even when the risk is a fraction of the potential gain. They think it’s a waste of time. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Remember this truism: What you do to improve every day, however small, has far greater impact on long-term performance and results than what you do to improve once in a while – no matter how big.
Putting that principle into practice starts with ditching the mindset that belittles small, incremental improvements.? Then you need processes and tools that imbed a routine for Systematic Continuous Improvement into the fabric of daily operations.?
Click on the link below to learn more about how to build that routine into your organization.
“Great is the enemy of better”?