Dining On Elephants Or The Secret Of The Law Of The Slight Edge

The Japanese term "Kaizen" means the process of continuous, ongoing, small, steady incremental improvements. It's the magic of taking something good and making it great.

The SECRET to leadership success is to apply Kaizen with The Law of the Slight Edge!

The Law of the Slight Edge is: you don't have to be twice as good to be twice as successful. All it takes to gain the edge is to improve just 1% in many areas (maybe even 100) rather than to try to improve 100% in just one area at the expense of the others.

Have you ever seen a photo finish horse race? How far is the first horse ahead of the second place finisher? It could be less than an inch. Yet, the prize money to the owner is usually twice as much.

So, how do you dine on an elephant? Answer: with continuous, small, incremental bites.

The question of any daunting leadership challenge facing you, no matter what your field or position, is "What now?" This is especially true when earning an assignment that requires exemplary leadership skills.

I don't personally know of anyone, no matter what their position from first time supervisor to CEO, who was suddenly thrust into a leadership role that didn't inwardly feel like "What now?"

My first experience was back in the '60s as a young naval officer given my first major shipboard assignment. I was suddenly the fearless leader of a deck division in charge of the lives, liberty and pursuit of happiness of 30 men. Add to that the responsibility for millions of dollars of ship's boats, turrets and machinery. My reaction (as 60 eyeballs stared at me) was, "What now?"

That has always been my response many years and numerous leadership situations later. I've dined on many elephants and so will you. Learn how now and avoid the indigestion that plagues so many others.

No matter your position, whenever you are selected for a challenging job or assignment, you will feel the pressure. That's normal. It's how you approach it that counts.

There's no magic formula, but there is a tried and true approach. Look at it as though you're about to dine on an elephant. Daunting, but you can do it by practicing "Kaizen" and put into motion the Law of the Slight Edge.

People and organizations that follow the process of continuous, steady, ongoing improvement across the board in small incremental steps will succeed.

They will outdistance those who swiftly attempt to take one area and focus their entire attention on that area at the expense of all the others.

Teddy Roosevelt advised that the race goes not to the swift but to those who persevere. The way to persevere is to take the advice of those who have been there and done that. Read their articles and books. Select those points that will help you make small incremental improvements to gain the edge.

In the last Olympic 50 meter freestyle swimming event the number one swimmer was only tenths of a second ahead of the number four. Yet, that's all it took to get the gold. What did number four get (maybe glory)?

That slight edge, gained by the perseverance of continually making small incremental improvements as part of training, is all it takes to eat the elephant successfully. Bon Appetite!

P.S. I love elephants. This was just a metaphor.