You Only Need To Improve By 1% Today

Let’s start today’s edition with a reflecting question. Which one of these statements do you resonate the most with?

1. “I’m all in for shaking things up and making big moves to turn my life around! 💪”

2. “Let’s take it one step at a time; it will add to something big in the long run. 🚶♂️”

If you fall into the latter category, you might already know a thing or two about the 1% rule. And if that’s not the case, you will figure it out soon. Let’s get started.

What’s the 1% rule?

This concept finds home in James Clear’s famous book, Atomic Habits. The 1% rule emphasizes the power of marginal gains and incremental progress in achieving meaningful long-term results.

The idea is that by making minor, consistent improvements or changes, even just 1% better each day, you can compound those gains over time to achieve significant improvements in the long run. After all, progress is not an all-nothing game. Instead, it builds upon what you did yesterday.

How can managers apply the 1% rule at work?

The key to the 1% rule lies in what is known as the “accumulative advantage.” A slight enhancement keeps growing as more and more is added, albeit in small installments. So before moving forward, remember that we are going for the delayed results, not the dramatic ones.

Let’s take the example of a manager, Sarah. She has noticed that meetings often run long and wants to reduce the time spent here. Her team would be surprised if she set things straight and made the meeting a no-nonsense matter on day 1. They might struggle to adjust, too.

So, what can she do? Here are a few things –

• Day 1: Sarah starts implementing a slight change to the meeting structure. She sets a clear agenda for each meeting and shares it with team members in advance, highlighting the topics to be discussed and the expected duration of each agenda item.
• Day 2: Sarah encourages team members to arrive on time for the meeting by starting promptly at the scheduled time, even if only some are present.
• Day 3: Sarah implements a time limit for each agenda item to ensure that discussions stay focused and don’t drag on unnecessarily.

In this manner, Sarah can incorporate three healthy habits she wants her team meetings to hold. Over a few days, when these habits have found a home, Sarah can solicit feedback and make changes as needed. In the end, Sarah gets efficient meetings, built one step at a time.

How do we incorporate the 1% rule in your growth journey at Risely?

Incremental growth toward long-term goals is also a pivotal idea behind Risely. We start with the smallest of steps, daily nudges (we talked about them in last week’s newsletter), and then move ahead with regular reinforcement through activities and assessments.

Development efforts phased over a period are crucial for you as a manager because one-shot solutions often don’t stick and disrupt schedules badly. On the other hand, daily steps offer a much more convenient route for busy leaders like you.

Check out how Risely works with a free 14-day trial today. 🌱