Whether you’re running a business or flying an airplane, making incremental changes is critical to reaching your goals.
Effective leaders have the systems in place to monitor progress, recognize when adjustments are necessary, and have the foresight to make incremental changes swiftly and confidently.
Here’s how to prepare your business for making incremental changes:
Choose a destination and commit to it
In business, your Vision is your destination and your business plan helps guide you and your team to achieve it. In much the same way, a flight plan is developed to guide us to our physical destination.
Successful business owners and pilots don’t always get to their destination exactly as planned, but they monitor their progress along the way and make incremental changes to stay on course.
Break down priorities
The weekly Level 10 meeting provides a frequent forum for business owners to make incremental adjustments.
Additionally, 90-day priorities (or “Rocks”) represent the big steps necessary to achieve the Vision. Setting Rocks each quarter help assure you are staying on course to achieve your vision.
In the cockpit we navigate through the flight plan, segment by segment. We fully utilize data from the instruments and outside sources (Air Traffic Control, Flight Service Stations, XM Weather, etc.) to monitor progress and identify obstacles. In the event of bad weather or strong winds, for example, we make adjustments to the plan, such as flying around a storm or stopping to refuel. We remain committed to reaching our final destination safely (even if delayed).
Identify the right data and review often
A Scorecard is your business’s set of metrics that determines how you are progressing toward your Vision. By monitoring your Scorecard frequently, you can quickly determine if things are off and make small adjustments before big changes are required.
The flight deck in the plane is equivalent to a business’s Scorecard. It includes instruments that display critical information about the flight so pilots can monitor progress, and anticipate problems.
Having these systems in place gives business owners like you the power to prepare and take control. When your plan falls off course, you will have the confidence to make changes to adjust instead of changes to solve issues that could have been prevented.
I challenge you to think about your business’s path to achieving your Vision. How do you monitor your progress and make the incremental changes needed in your business? What’s your process? Please share with us in the comments below!
11710 Plaza America Drive, Suite 2000 Reston, VA 20190
703.278.CORE (2673)
Leave a Reply