A 1% Improvement

Continuous improvement is the key to becoming more efficient and successful in business and in life.  Sometimes, the ideal we desire to achieve seems almost impossible when we consider the totality of improvement necessary to reach the goal.  However, let me ask a question to consider.  Is it possible to improve by 1%?  Hopefully, most everyone would acknowledge that a 1% improvement is highly achievable.  Another question.  Is it possible to improve by 0.1%?  If a 1% improvement is highly achievable, than surely a 0.1% improvement is doable.  Is an 0.1% improvement even significant?  Yes, because of the compounding effect of these small improvements.  “If you become 0.1 percent more productive each day, five days per week, at the end of a week you will be 0.5 percent more productive.  At the end of four weeks, you will be 2 percent more productive (4 X 0.5=2).  At the end of fifty-two weeks, you will be 26 percent more productive than you were at the beginning of the year (13 X 2=26).  By becoming 26 percent more productive over the course of a year and continuing to improve by 0.1 percent per day, five days a week, you will double your overall productivity, performance, and output in 2.7 years(Tracy, p. 170 & 171).”  What would it do for your business if it doubled its productivity, performance, and output in 2.7 years?

I was recently working with a client and we calculated a one percent improvement in the course of a year in four key areas.  By improving just one percent in these areas (very doable), the increase in positive cash flow over the course of the year to his business was over $600,000.

When considering future business or personal goals, break it down into small incremental improvements of 1% or 0.1% and double productivity quicker than you ever dreamed possible.

*Tracy, Brian, (2002), Focal Point