Tipping the Scales

“Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change, but pretty soon...everything's different.” Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes

I’ve often wondered how transformational change comes to fruition. What is it that tipped the scale? Rarely is it something that just happens overnight. It is the outcome of small progressive changes that lead to something significant and profound.

One definition for change is to make the form, nature or future course different from what it would be if left alone.

Change occurs through persistence and hard work. Take the pyramids in Giza. It is estimated that there are 2,300,000 stones in this pyramid and that it took around 20 years to build. I can’t imagine laying the first stone and thinking only 2,299,999 left to go. This structure is one of the seven wonders of the world and still baffles some of the smartest minds on how precise it is in terms of astronomy, math, science, positioning, engineering and construction.

When I think back to starting my first college course, I didn’t focus on the other 20 classes I’d need to take in order to get an associate’s degree. I didn’t think about the other 40 courses I’d need to get a Bachelor’s degree and I surely didn’t think about the other 52 classes I’d need to get to get a Master’s degree. I set the course to obtain a degree and focused on one class at a time. It took about 8 years and thousands of dedicated hours to complete. It has completely transformed me in terms of marketability, options, salary and overall quality of life.

These are the slow everyday changes that one day equate to success and transformation. When applied to an existing business, change can sometimes seems slow or the outcome not as we had hoped.

Persistence: the continuance of an effect after the cause of it has stopped. The pyramids aren’t being built anymore, but are still one of the most astonishing structures known to man. I’m not going to school anymore, but I’m still gaining the benefits of the work that’s been accomplished.

Think about how you can apply persistence with small changes to tip the scales that lead to transformational change.