Change - Revolution or iteration?
Change is Constant; but is it revolution or evolution?
Across England many Councils are gearing up for change – the local elections guarantee a flurry of political campaigning calls for change and ideas for the future. This moment gives all of us a moment to reflect and consider change, be it personal or corporate. But what should change look like?
All too often in the workplace we look for the big strategic change which will “solve” all our problems. The classic; revolution over evolution. These big change projects are often beset with difficulties, the need to secure funding, engage with substantive HR processes, procurements and the need to convince large groups to change what they are doing. It’s not that this can’t work and indeed there are times when it is both desirable and arguably essential.
The alternative is the idea of taking what we have and making it better. This is often the best option when it comes to sustainable personal change; and arguably organisational development would be wise to consider it.
The concept of incremental organisational change is not new. The concept of Kaizen was developed within the Japanese mindset and corporate culture. The term means incremental change - or a more detailed analysis is Kai which refers to change, and the concept of Zen being good, otherwise Good Change, something we can all appreciate.
The concept of taking what we already do and looking for those small changes which would make life better; processes smoother faster or more efficient. Too often we sit with the existing process because it is familiar, but by taking the effort to review and refine we could make big strides in the course of a year.
In its purest form this is expressed in the Deming Cycle.
Plan - Look for an opportunity and plan a change (it need not be large).
Do - Put the plan in action and be intentional about noticing the change.
Check - Evaluate the change, identify what you have learnt from the change.
Act - Follow up on what you have learnt, if it was a success incorporate the change; if not try again with a new plan.
There is no limit on the number of times you can go through they cycle, indeed several small improvements could rapidly result in significant improvement.
Incorporating this across teams produces the greatest impact across the whole organisation. Innovate rapidly and be ready to fail learn from things that have not worked as well as we would have hoped.
In our lives the power of small incremental change applied consistently over time can make a big difference; and is probably more sustainable. After all who hasn’t had a New Year’s resolution to lose weight crushed under the reality of January; when a decision to eat one less biscuit is probably a fair challenge but one which is just about sustainable. Over time cutting out a biscuit is likely to have the desired result or at least head in the right direction.
Whatever your changes I hope this gives you something to reflect on, as we rush to the future big changes will always be hard; sometimes small can be beautiful.
Disclaimer
The information in this blog post is correct to the best of my knowledge and belief at the time of publication. Whilst I provide general thoughts comments and views on topics, the comments are a summary and not to be regarded as definitive legal advice. Please take detailed advice if you need it from a suitable professional who can look at your personal circumstances and details.
