Small Improvements

Success will actually come automatically, just by performing those little advancements with consistency. 

Simply remember this line:

Small daily improvements—over time—lead to stunning results.

I call it the Multiplier Effect. Doing intelligent little acts each and every day accelerates with time to an unimaginable state of success. It’s sort of like compound interest. If when you are young, you go down to your bank every day and make tiny, seemingly insignificant deposits, by the magic of compounding, over time you’ll become rich. 

So when it comes to high performance leadership and expressing your absolute best, it’s the same thing. Small little leadership acts really will compound into breathtaking consequences. And as I was saying on the subject of innovation, the powerful idea is to just dedicate yourself to being all about consistent, focused, and never-ending improvement. Just don’t get caught up in the habit that is human nature to fall into: growing complacent. As a matter of fact, the more successful you become, the more hungry you need to be—not only as a person but also as an organization. Nothing fails like success, because the higher you rise, the easier it becomes to stop pushing the envelope, challenging the status quo, and keeping your focus. 

Sure, it’s human nature to try and reach a place where things don’t change, where we can coast along, where everything is certain. This gives us a sense of control and security. But I have to tell you, it’s such a false sense of security. In the new world of business, the riskiest place you can be is trying to do the same things in the same way as you’ve always done them. Few things are as foolish as hoping old behaviors will somehow present new results.

 That means you’re not innovating. You’re not doing your part to make things better. You’re not creating superior value. And that means that rather than evolving to ever-increasing levels of excellence, you are slipping deeper into old patterns of stagnation.