7 Levels Of Change (Part 3 of 9) - Level 2: Efficiency

September 25, 2007 · Filed Under Business, Business Model, Creative Thinking Techniques, Creativity, Innovation, Myers-Briggs, Personality

Table of contents for 7 Levels Of Change

The third in a nine-part series on Rolf Smith’s 7 Levels of Change, I introduce the second level of change - Efficiency (Doing Things Right).

Part 1 - Introduction

Part 2 - Level 1: Effectiveness

In Level 1 we focused on doing the right things to make the new organization work effectively. We established the way to think effectively that this level and introduced a few fundamental tools.

So now we’ve established a new ’status quo.’ Your new venture is working effectively - now a different kind of thinking takes over. Level 2 change moves us from effectiveness to efficiency - doing the right things ‘right.’ To change an effective organization, the first thing you can do is make it more efficient.

Thinking

To get efficient results, you have to do the right things right. To do the right things right, you have to practice efficient thinking. Level 2 thinkers create a new set of processes and procedures to maximize efficiency, emphasizing structure and logic. “Always be prepared” - this eliminates potential bottlenecks. Level 2 results are like Level 1, only better. Leaner, more efficient, faster, more economical.

Who

People who are attracted to Level 2 change are similar to those attracted to Level 1. The same KAI traits - yet more adept at doing things better, conserving time and money, developing more efficient processes and rules. As with Level 1 thinkers they need the “box” to be effective, but can make the box work better. They are comfortable moving from a Level 1 to Level 2 situation - the changes aren’t that drastic and are well worth the effort to them. They work to achieve a new status quo - one that is more efficient than the old one. Yet both Level 1 and Level 2 people get nervous with the idea of drastic, disruptive change.

Ideas

Ideas at Level 2 are about creating new rules to make processes and procedures more efficient. You won’t get big-picture ideas from a Level 2 thinker - they are too focused on maintaining the box itself and making it work better.

Tools

What kind of tools are more efficient versions of Level 1 tools?

Day-Timer/Planner - More organized that blue slips. But keep using blue slips and transfer ideas to it I (personally I don’t use one, as I am not that organized!)
Use Blue Slips Better - Blue slips are best used horizontally. Put the keyword in the upper left hand corner, and limit each blue slip to one idea only. Headline your ideas in 7-9 words. Here’s an example:

Handling Blue Slips - Each day or so, take your stack of blue slips and sort through them. The goal is to prioritize - “do it now” ideas that can be implemented quickly, versus longer-range ideas that need more development. Act on the do-it-now stack, put the others aside and periodically go through them to see what has become more clear.

Level 2 has made your new venture more efficient, but to move forward you have to make changes that go beyond efficiency. Level 3 is improvement, and we’ll tackle that next.

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