September 6, 2018
ISSN# 1545-2646
Change VS. Change
The other day I was doing a little cleanup of loose change in my vehicle and was surprised how quickly it accumulates in those cup holders. This oddly enough started me to reflect on the events which propagated the change to collect and that it was just set aside for me to deal with at a later time as I was doing just then. This intern began to quickly flow into thoughts about both clients and JKL Associates on how certain transactions cause changes which we set aside to deal with at a later time only to not get back around to closing that loop.
In the business environment today, change is inevitable. Sometimes it is caused by the marketplace, customer demands, industry, government and yes, actual constructive improvement. When these changes are planned, we attempt to do a reasonable job of taking into consideration the downstream effects and how one change can lead to a series of changes that initially were not intended but to be complete are required to be addressed. When the changes are thrust upon us our initial action is to bring that event to a point of stability and then return to what we were involved with prior to that change taking place. Unfortunately, that change which was not well planned out still has downstream reactions that in order to be complete MUST be addressed.
Returning to how this thought chain was started, (loose change in my vehicle) I began to add up the various coins and it added up pretty quickly. The amount was substantial enough to actually pay a toll road excursion I took to a client. It is pretty strange to see how these small and perceived to be insignificant coins actually when combined together amounted to a sum of value which reduced an expense.
Change – both the coins and the shift in the way something is done can have that effect.
At the time when a new way of doing a process or procedure is rolled out to your team, it can sometimes be weakly accepted. Why does this happen? Well, one reason is that typically the change is rolled out but the backstory and purpose for the change is never fully provided. It is too often assumed that everyone knows the why or purpose for the change. This leaves lots of gaps which create questions which end up like the change in your vehicle – something you will get back to in the future.
This week take some time to clean up the change both in your car and in your company. Look at the changes which have recently taken place and ask yourself if the “Purpose” or the “Why” was provided in addition to the actual change. If not, it is time to gather up the loose change and make a buck or more with it by improving your teams’ ability to integrate the changes.
Curious about making change a more fluid and productive part of your business model? Call JKL Associates at (313) 527-7945 and let’s have a conversation.