Marginal gains

Continuous improvement. What every business should be striving for.

Best described by James Clear in his well-known Atomic Habits, continuous improvement is "a dedication to making small changes and improvements every day, with the expectation that those small improvements will add up to something significant".

And yet, though we'd all love to be that person at the end of the year, recognising that famous 37.78% improvement*, it's surprising how few of us are dedicated enough - daily - to make it happen.

One thing is certain, particularly as we grow older - time will continue to pass, and whether we're ready to or not, we will reach the end of the day, the week, the year. So what's stopping us from starting now to ensure we do reap the benefits of that continuous improvement, rather than struggling to hit unattainable goals with too little time to do so properly?

*1% better every day = 1.01 to the power of 365 = 37.78 times better than when you started

Here are some of the top blockers that you may well recognise:

1. Resistance to change 
Fear of the unknown is common. It's often considered harder to change ways of working than to keep doing the same things, but somehow expect a different result.

2. Lack of leadership support
Change is driven from the top - and if the need for change is not recognised, advocated and communicated by leadership, it simply won't happen.

3. Lack of skills
This can be a lack of skills to recognise that issues exist, and/or lack of skills to address and improve as a business. Either one can be your downfall.

4. Poor communication
Whether it's the need to remove siloes across departments, ensure opportunity for employee feedback, or simply getting a clear, consistent message across - this can be make or break for change.

5. Other
A number of other factors can fit here - a short-termist view, a lack of culture that supports change, overly-complex tools, systems, processes...

If you're recognising one (or more) of those points, all is not lost. After all, the point of this post is to inspire, not depress! And - by tackling each one at a time, you'll surely start to see those incremental gains.

So, where does good operational process fit in?

Let's consider a few examples that could add up to that 37.78% of 'betterness' over time (most likely in much less than those 365 days...):

• Daily timesheets = accurate data
  You'll have a view of your most (un)profitable clients, products and teams
• Regular status reporting = proactivity in delivery
  You'll see projects being driven and completed more rapidly 
• Accurate revenue forecasting & reporting = accurate capacity planning
  You'll see external costs reduce, as you build a team that's right-sized for revenue
• A clear project lifecycle = quicker from set-up to completion
  You'll see more billable time recognised more quickly
• Fit-for-purpose briefings = more 'right first time'
  You'll see better inter-team relationships, faster delivery, and happier clients

There are more, for sure - but you get the gist.

Having Mission: Purple in to consult on your internal operations needn't mean an overhaul of the way you do things - but it could shed light on how you could see some marginal gains that will add up.

Nothing changes if nothing changes. So what's stopping you from starting?