If we are not learning/adapting, we are at the risk of being left behind.

2025 is the year of the Wood Snake. When reading about this zodiac, it highlights and symbolizes growth, renewal, adaptability, and encouraging people to reflect on their paths, embrace change, and seek personal growth.

In our world of helping others improve performance (teaching, coaching, facilitating), we can relate to this. So often we hear organizations, teams, and individuals accept what is not so good. "It is out of our control" or "This is not worth our time". One manager's process was selected as a continuous improvement Kaizen demonstration project. The manager resisted during the preparation and during the project launch. On day 2 the team mapped out and shared their true work processes, challenges, ideas, and improvement opportunities. The manager was stunned; they didn't know what they didn't know. Plus the desired improvements were in the team's control! It was very enlightening for the manager and the team. This joint learning resulted in personal growth, better than expected improvements (time & quality), and it instilled the desire to be part of the changes that were a win-win for them and their customers.

What to do in 2025 to grow, renew, and adapt?

1. Challenge everything! 

• Take on the value-waste challenge
• Identify and agree on the value we bring (as a team or individual).
• Look at all other activities and tasks as wasteful. If it is not value it is waste that consumes our precious time and resources without bringing value. 
• Seek and adopt ways to decrease these wastes. This will result in less time to perform a task, better quality, and happier team & customers. Note, improvement methods can help you achieve this faster, easier, and with bigger results.

2. Go for big win-win change!

• Look across the system to identify big gaps and pain points.
• Convene cross-system teams to close these gaps together.
• And, please, set a big goal! How about a 50% reduction in errors vs. a 5% target? A lofty goal can encourage the team to think differently and bring more innovative improvements.
• Again, tried and true improvement & change methods can help you achieve this faster, easier, and with bigger results.

3. Embrace changes and help others! 

• Help others 👀 see gaps in the way work is current done. Help others 👀see what a new way of working looks like so they want to leave the current way and try a new approach.
• Relate the personal impact of the change. Communicate the WIIFM - What is in it for me. 
• Provide the time and information needed to understand and embrace the change. Keep in mind everyone's perspectives are unique; therefore changes are embraced at different times and for different reasons.
• Use the change process as a guide. 

4. Celebrate and continue!

Building on successes and learnings from these 3 steps, continue on the path to higher performance (hopefully with only wooden toy snakes)!