How many of you have been in conversations about Transformations and the “stop” “start” nature of them – often having big budgets, multi year timescales and claims of significant benefits as a step change in the business model is promised.

There is usually a competing mindset of “continuous improvement” with the realisation that change is often more effective if handled incrementally. A focus on improving the next 3-6 months rather than getting too carried away on the ambiguous future.

For me I can see that the “continuous improvement” brings improved clarity on outcomes and more instant measurable success measures but it may become too internally focused and too short term in nature if not set up correctly.

On the other hand the transformation agenda is often far more externally focused and the step change that is often implied in the TORs will set the business up for future success. But it can get carried away with an ambiguous vision and become a monster to manage as the change team extends into 100s of people across the entire business.

Last night while surfing LinkedIn a dear friend of mine commented on a change post. Karen Dempster (https://uk.linkedin.com/in/karendempster1) commented and stressed the need for Continuous Evolution, and that was this weeks Eureka moment.

Continuous Evolution is a fantastic term it takes the benefits of continuous improvement and the intention of transformation and bashes it together(IMHO).

A continuous evolution programme just feels more like a step change without being as ambiguous as a transformation programme.

A continuous evolution programme feels like it would be more externally focused than an improvement programme recognising that it’s not just about improving what we do but what we will do.

As Karen said in her post continuous evolution has to embrace innovation and adaptability and drive a change agenda that is achievable and engaging.

Thank you Karen Dempster!