The Power of Continuous Application for Achieving Results

There is an ongoing fight between 'good' and 'bad' when it comes to business processes.

Some people want to do things in the right way, with the right processes, consistently.

Some people don't appreciate the need for doing things in the right way consistently.

Over time this can make a huge difference to the results we obtain as a business.

The diagram above shows a representation of this over time; the green line represents the improvement a business can achieve by building on good efforts day in day out. The red line shows the opposite case.

Of course, in real life, the line wouldn't be so straight, but the result is the same. Sticking with good habits takes you in the right direction in the longer term. You really do have to stick with them however.

Small things done consistently are part of this equation. Small things that may seem to not count on a daily basis really can make a difference in the long run.

Small things like updating KPIs, maintaining project programmes, reviewing improvement plans, actioning our marketing plans, correcting system data, housekeeping, sunrise meetings etc...

And with all habits you can start small and build up. Pick one thing that hasn't been done consistently and find ways to remind you to do the task. Get one habit going (with or without prompts) before you add another one.

And then you can watch which way your performance moves as a business.

Giles Johnston
Author of Business Process Re-Engineering and creator of the 'Making It Happen' online course for discovering simple change management strategies.

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