“How do I get some of that?”
The most typical approach to self-improvement is to set a hefty goal, provide a small window of time to achieve it, then expect huge amounts of personal effort and suffering in order to get there. Sound familiar?
If this is a common approach to performance improvement, what’s wrong with it and why is it doomed?
- Large goals can feel unobtainable, too far out of reach, and overwhelming
- Short timeframes require a large investment of time, when most are already stretched
- Substantial effort is largely unsustainable over time
Goals that are set too high and too soon often lead to frustration, exhaustion and failure
Continuous improvement follows a simple requirement: small adjustments, made routinely. If we consider the question: “What small adjustment could I make today that would make me perform a little better than yesterday?”, we soon establish that half the battle with continuous improvement lies in the rear-view mirror.
We are so busy doing and moving forward, that we rarely take the opportunity to reflect on how we do things. If you were to repeat the same day, what would you do differently? How might you alter your approach? In reflecting, we manage to highlight the precise areas to optimise, and provide ourselves with our performance improvement objectives for tomorrow.
Sadly though, small, continuous improvements are not sexy! They don’t offer the same excitement and inspiration that comes with big, life altering goals. They are, dare we say it, boring?
James Clear (of Atomic Habits fame) makes a compelling argument for continuous improvement, via a straightforward compounding equation:
- If we improve by just 1% per day for a year: 1.01 to the power 365 = 37.78
- If we decline by just 1% per day for a year: 0.99 to the power 365 = 0.03
The small gain is SO small (almost “What’s the point?” small) that it’s largely unnoticeable, but becomes significant when aggregated over time. The small decline is also small, but only becomes significant when pitted against positive improvements over time.
So, how do we deploy this relatively simple approach to performance improvement:
Apply consistency across existing best practices
- Rather than simply focusing on what could be improved, look for the performance activity that already exists, and do more of it, more regularly
Measure backwards by using the rear-view mirror
- Make improvement decisions based on what you have already accomplished, rather than what is still to be accomplished
Jettison the net losses
- Focusing on doing more things better is half of the equation, how about doing less of what doesn’t work (improvement by subtraction)?
Reinforce the Four Cornerstones of Performance Improvement
- Hydrate, Nourish, Exercise, Rest
Make Continuous Improvement your deliberate practice from today until the close of 2024 and see what cumulative effect it has on your progress! You’re In Cool Company.
