What are the "only two" important things when taking on something new?

I am Journeyman ( @beajourneyman ).

Recently, many services have been introduced in the context of work-style reform. I have increasingly been introducing measures that have proven effective through our own initiatives to those in charge on the front lines and providing support for their implementation.

When introducing the initiatives mentioned above, one topic that frequently comes up is the opinion that "It was only possible because the company changed, right?" Is that really the case?

I have felt while interacting with those in charge every day that there are actually "only two things" that are important when taking on something new, so I would like to introduce them.

Before tackling work-style reform company-wide

"Work-style reform" is a keyword that has been gaining excitement over the last few years due to the inevitable trend of a shrinking working-age population. By linking with technologies that have evolved such as AI and RPA, there is a sense that it will dramatically change the way we work.

On the other hand, aren't you skeptical that cases where work styles have been changed and dramatic results achieved are somehow special and difficult for your own company? Tracing the cause, I feel that in many cases, the means and the ends have been swapped.

What is the goal? Is it something like "Automate what can be automated and increase the time available for creating genuine business value"? That might be achievable by using AI and RPA as means and tools. However, since tool introduction incurs corresponding costs, it is necessary to prove that the effects are worth the investment even to get started. If the means become the goal, the introduction of AI and RPA itself becomes the goal, and you may lose sight of achieving the original purpose.

I sometimes hear from those in charge of work-style reform projects that have been decided to be tackled company-wide, who are suffering from stomach aches due to the pressure, as they are not allowed to fail despite it being a new initiative that no one has ever challenged before, while expectations are growing.

What is necessary when taking on something new

Isn't failure inevitable in unprecedented initiatives that no one has challenged before? Is that failure something to be dismissed as a waste and condemned?

They say failure is the mother of success. Failing, gaining new learning, and connecting it to the next action is a cycle that everyone has experienced in the process of growing up since childhood.

It looks like a difficult steering task that you cannot easily find the answer to even if you ask someone, but if you think simply about what is necessary to move forward, two important things become visible.

"Start small first and get your hands moving"

This is a very important principle for both leaders and team members. Why? As mentioned earlier, there is no guarantee that the experience cultivated so far can be applied as is to "something new" and lead to success. What is the foundation of the success experience you have cultivated? Isn't it the special know-how gained from the experience you have repeatedly practiced until then? They say seeing is believing. Only through actual experience can you learn from the essential meaning and value of "something new" and connect it to the next action.

"Never let them fail"

The other is the behavior of the leader, the person waving the flag themselves. It is to allow failures that occur as a result of practice by repeating a cycle of clearing small goals so that it does not become a major, irreversible failure. Make the growth cycle introduced earlier a team culture. Borrowing the words of popular organizational theory, it might be said to be a state where there is "psychological safety." The leader protects the members and does not bring the friction (conflicts) that exists at the boundary between new and old initiatives into the team. Standing on the front lines might be close to the feeling of a startup manager. Could it be said that you can be a leader because there is a world you want to realize?

Summary

Work-style reform is something every company is focusing on, but when I broke it down with a focus on the goal and moving forward toward success, it became the question, "How do we take on new things 'as a team'?" This is the essence that I felt was particularly important when taking the first step, based on the practical experience I have been working on for the past few years.

If you would like to hear real voices, please feel free to comment. Thank you for reading to the end.