#290 incrementalism

I have been getting a lot of help on blog topics lately (thanks!)  Here is another item from my sister.  Spend three minutes watching Queen Elizabeth grow up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=E8nJhG1xE5o
(you don't need to subscribe; just give it a second)

When did the Queen grow old?  It is hard to say.  Especially for those who see her every day, the changes are so incremental that they hardly notice.  It's the same thing when people gain weight or become gray or get depressed -- things happen so gradually that the people themselves and those around them don't really see the signs until significant change has occurred.

I believe that the same is true in organizations.  The service level deteriorates.  The fiscal health of the place becomes precarious.  The morale of a department declines.  Yet no one inside -- the very people that can reverse the trend -- notices until things are "bad".  

We use an outside consultant and one of the things that he brings us is a view from the outside.  He sees us every quarter and can tell if we are sliding in one direction or another.  He can tell a difference because he hasn't seen it happen every day.  He is our antidote to incrementalism because he only sees us after chunks of time have passed.

How can you add an outside view to your perspective?  Can you create internal benchmarks and use comparative data to see how things are in context of the big picture vs. how it feels just today?  Find ways to enter the forest instead of always living inside of it. The view is different looking back.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com