The saying goes, Keep doing the same thing and you’ll keep getting the same results.
But I’ve never known that to be true.
Keep doing the same thing long enough and people get bored. What once generated excitement becomes routine. Eventually, you start seeing diminishing results.
I’ve watched this happen in organizations for years.
A new idea gets introduced. People love it. Energy builds. Results improve. Everyone celebrates.
So, naturally, we do it again. And again. Then again the next year. Soon it becomes an expected part of culture.
But somewhere along the way, the excitement fades.
Participation declines. The results aren’t what they used to be.
And what do we often do? We double down on what worked before.
One of the greatest dangers in leadership is assuming yesterday’s success guarantees tomorrow’s results.
The problem isn’t always that the idea was bad. It may have been a great idea – even exactly what was needed at the time.
But times change. People change. Expectations change. And what once felt fresh eventually becomes familiar.
This is why leaders must continually challenge the status quo.
We have to be willing to ask hard questions.
- Is this still working, or are we simply comfortable doing it?
- Are we getting the results we need, or celebrating the results we used to get?
- If we were starting over today, would we do it the same way?
Of course, we shouldn’t change things simply for the sake of change. Some things are worth preserving. Our mission, values, and principles should provide consistency.
But we should never confuse faithfulness to our mission with loyalty to our methods.
Sometimes the greatest threat to future success is our unwillingness to let go of past success.
Leaders, keep learning. Keep evaluating. Keep innovating.
Doing what you’ve always done doesn’t necessarily get you what you’ve always gotten.
Sometimes it gets you less.
