Compounding

Compounding is a great way to work smarter not harder. To achieve more with less.

Often when under the pump it’s easy to feel like we don’t have the time to look at ways of improving how we work, our team culture, or to build strategies. Some personality types exacerbate this tendency for present bias. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of work we need to do.

However nothing will change if we don’t change what we do. Compounding is a way to make small changes that will add up in the long term. Creating a better way of working and being.

It’s just a powerful idea that the Australian government has mandated it for saving for people’s retirement. Left alone, many people focus on the present and won’t save. However, saving just a little from each pay will add up over time. In fact, it will multiply (compound).

Especially when you find yourself and team in a busy period, look for processes that could be tweaked to save time. Look how to reduce a click. Taking 10 minutes to automate the completion of a date field now will save your team hours over a few years. Do this regularly and you’ll create space for larger more substantial improvement.

As I say to my children “if you’re too busy to clean up after making a meal, you’re too busy to make a meal” (cringe).

Some simple ways to start compounding:

If you find yourself writing similar emails, such as answering a similar customer question. You could write each email each time, or you could write a template to adapt and re-use each time. Perfection is the enemy of good. You don’t need the perfect template. Start with what you have. When you find a limitation or have an idea to improve it, do so.

Repetitious tasks are an obvious target to streamline. However, also consider what the impact would be to slow down to think about the most important tasks. Are you doing the right things. Eisenhowers matrix or the MoSCoW frameworks helps us choose the right things to focus on.

Compounding also works for learning.

Building a habit.

Compounding works best when it’s repeated. It’s a mindset shift from doing a single change, to regularly looking for opportunities.