New Things

Almost everyone likes new things. Elite executive teams like new things in their personal and professional lives. However, doing new things in an organization is not always easy.

When making changes in an organization, there are two categories to consider. One type is incremental change, and the other is a dramatic change.

Incremental change usually begins with a pain-point. If sales start to decline, then adding a new product or a new market segment to develop are examples of an incremental change. It is easy to identify the pain, and the solution for the pain is reasonable to implement.  

Dramatic change usually begins with an idea that did not exist before. There is no obvious pain point, but rather an unusual opportunity or grand objective. The opportunity is not always clearly defined, but there is a dimension of overcoming what can not be done. An example of a dramatic change is two brothers with a bicycle shop in Ohio, US, who commit to building a motorized machine that would fly. Early progress is usually slow, but ultimately reactions and results are phenomenal.

Incremental changes should be an ongoing part of every growing and successful organization. There must be structured thinking and processes to identify pain points and discipline to create strategic initiatives. Strategic initiatives include clarity of outcomes, timelines, and defined project steps (use project management disciplines and tools) to complete them. The book, The Goal, by Eliyahu Goldratt, is required for study (not just read) for all elite executive teams.

Dramatic change opportunities come along far less frequently than incremental change. The following quote expresses a key dimension of the world of dramatic change and innovation: 

“Innovation is hard because solving problems people didn’t know they had and building something no one needs look identical at first.” – Aaron Levie, CEO of Box

The following quote is attributed to Henry Ford:

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

At Zynity, we find ourselves pressing the adoption of a dramatic change. We provide a clarified system, online tools, and certified coaches to help executive leadership teams implement an executive leadership system. Organizations have an accounting system, a sales system, but they do not have an executive leadership system. A system is required to become elite.

Of course, more of the world will catch on as we have more success stories. These stories continue developing. It is a most fun journey, and our early adopter coaches and clients are enjoying being ‘before-the-crowd’ participants. The growing reactions and results are phenomenal.