Whether or not we realize it, we make incremental changes in our lives all the time. Small, seemingly inconsequential changes occur throughout our daily routines. Sure, some routines feel like they’re set in stone and will never change, but think about it. Aren’t we still finding subtle ways to optimize them? Don’t we still learn little tricks to shave slivers of time off of our routines, giving us a little more flexibility and a little more time to divert to something else?
Building a Better Mousetrap
Few people really intend to catch mice when they use the phrase, “build a better mousetrap.” It’s a way to say there is a possibility (opportunity) to make something better, but some time and effort (investment) must be spent in the attempt, without any guarantee that the end result really will be any better (profitable). While this is a convenient metaphor, unfortunately it is a bit limited, because so many things in life, when taken as a whole, are more complicated than designing a mousetrap.
Process Optimization
Especially when considering an entire business, the mousetrap analogy begins to morph into a Rube Goldberg cartoon rather than a few bits of metal and wood arranged in a certain way. There are simply too many moving parts (people and processes), directly and indirectly connected, to be able to see a nice, clear, simple solution. So what do we do?
Fortunately, a lot of things improve naturally over time, as we learn those incremental improvement tricks. Also, from the right perspective, it may be easy to see how to optimize certain processes within a larger whole. Even “small” improvements can produce greatly improved results in certain circumstances.
Options and Opportunities
Eventually though, incremental changes will not be enough if you really want to keep improving and growing your business. So how do you decide when to invest in substantial changes? How do you choose what, and to what extent, to upgrade or automate? How will you know which options will produce greater gains than costs? Will there ever be an easy answer to these questions? Nope. But as many of the contributors to this magazine will agree, the first, and perhaps most important, step is to ask the questions.