For many people, the idea of change is so daunting that they put it off until it’s too late and they’re forced to make a sudden, drastic change - like when your computer crashes and you have to buy a new one. But for those who are willing to take smaller steps towards their goals, change can be successful. In this post, I discuss why large changes often result in failure and how small or incremental changes can help increase the value you get from change over time!

When I consider company change, I inevitably imagine technology as a tool to enable it, but it’s really a people issue. The necessity for change comes from people; they must plan and implement changes, and they must accept them. It’s usually difficult for one of us to make adjustments in our lives, so implementing reform in a business may be more difficult because there are so many others who will require buy-in to the transformation process. Change in the area of AI is even more complex and we have written about this in previous articles, where research has shown those who are embracing change benefit from greater results. The leaders or Transformer organisations that are adopting new technologies at scale are well on their way to AI success. This is largely due to a shared vision and compounded by a strong AI readiness culture.

Embracing change

We’re often hesitant to embrace new ideas because we fear that they will disrupt our routine, so instead of doing anything about it right away, we put it off into a large project that might take months. This can assist individuals in becoming more comfortable with the concept but also risks delays, failed change, and the loss of key personnel during the meantime.

The notion of continuous improvement is nothing new in the manufacturing industry, but we still encounter a lot of resistance to it. To begin with, this may be due to the fact that change typically necessitates considerable investment, implying that you must get it precisely right the first time. The major reason for resistance, however, is being too preoccupied. People are used to change being difficult, time-consuming, and hazardous. They can’t or refuse to give up their regular routine (BAU).

Unfortunately, when you’re unable to take the time to improve gradually, you will not make any changes that can help you out. You’ll be too busy all of the time, and the value of your efforts won’t alter.

Change is a compound

Change has a compounding effect, according to part of our strategy at Nightingale HQ. A little change today might save you time in the long run, allowing you to focus on more change, then more scale. Every tiny process that may be automated or enhanced allows you more time to focus on the bigger picture rather than being caught up with BAU. We see this every day with our manufacturing customers, helping them to adopt affordable low/no-code tools to improve work processes in the short term but also having the benefit of delivering longer-term change within the organisation. I see it often in practice, the success of improving and automating repetitive and manual processes in one department can have a contagion effect and quickly spread to other departments who want the same benefits.

Change, the GoSmarter way

We’re using this thinking as the foundation for GoSmarter, with the goal of making minor change easier so you can see results faster throughout your company. We call them AI Quick Wins and they have the power to deliver a fast ROI and drive momentum throughout a company. I think that today’s little improvement is preferable to making a more significant one tomorrow. This is a lower-risk, low-cost method that also encourages learning, technological maturity, and an appetite for greater changes in the future.

Change compounds, start immediately on something modest and free up time to get critical value rather than being mired in a long TO DO list that never shrinks.

Further reading

GoSmarter Toolbox - small changes with big impact

The State of AI and learning from Transformers

AI Quick Wins - projects that you can implement easily in your organisation

What is a Citizen Developer? - the power of no-code tools

Manufacturing AI