Why Incremental Change Works
I Don’t Wanna
Change is uncomfortable and people resist it - it’s just human nature. Meaningful, long-lasting change is particularly challenging. It takes time and repetition to develop new habits or unlearn old ones. It also takes patience, as establishing positive routines, whether in our personal or professional lives, is most often marked in incremental improvements and small victories.
That is because incremental change is less traumatic than radical change and much more likely to stick. Behavioural scientists have long known that people respond to gradual change better than sudden change for three main reasons:
- Small changes allow us to experience frequent success, which triggers the reward response in our brains, literally building new neural pathways that reinforce the behaviour.
- Smaller changes are lower-risk, meaning that they are less likely to feel overwhelming and undermine motivation.
- Small changes meet with less resistance and more engagement, leading to better adoption.
The Benefits to an Incremental Approach
Incremental Change is one of the fundamental strategies used by GTM Advisors to ensure long lasting success for our clients. We know that the best way to gain buy-in, adoption and sustainment of improved processes and procedures is through our thoughtful, step-by-step approach. This technique creates a cadence of ongoing small successes that together result in substantial and scalable organizational change.
A benefit of incremental change is that it makes it possible for your imagination to work in tandem to the change. When change happens abruptly, people don’t have time to process and good ideas can get lost. A step-at-a-time approach benefits the destination because every step taken is an opportunity for ideas to be considered and explored. This type of change encourages collaboration and innovation.
One of the most powerful aspects of Incremental Change is its ability to unify a team. By making small adjustments and bringing people into the conversation, ideas can be shared and collectively a feeling of teamwork can develop. We suggest strategically inviting team members to help solve problems during the Incremental Change process.
How GTM Advisors Uses Incremental Change
While our approach is always incremental, it isn’t always the same. We don’t offer cookie-cutter, one size fits all solutions. We work with your team to develop bespoke and realistic solutions for your business, your team, and your growth challenges.
As experts in change management, we guide the C-suite through how to introduce and integrate new methodologies, processes, team members and organisational structures. We will coach frontline leaders to become effective coaches and develop customized, role-specific bite-sized guides for the field. In every phase we focus on the introduction and mastery of the specific skills and best practices each role needs for success.
By leaning into human nature and adopting an incremental approach you can bring about sustainable change and achieve your goals.
