2020 Will Be Different   Let’s make IWWCW our motto for 2020.  Quite a mouthful as far as acronyms go, but the meaning is sensible, yet challenging.  In What Way Can We is a perfect foil for inspiring those who resist peaking out from deep inside their comfort zone.  By the way, we have now captured a big proportion of the Japan archipelago right there.  Problems arise but we should never be defeated by them. This country however is the risk aversion capital of the universe.  This is important - don’t be put off by other people’s limitations.  They may see no way forward because their thinking is too negative.  We need IWWCW thinking to overcome all of that negativity roiling around us.   We should use IWWCW thinking to focus on your own problems and conquer them.   The new calendar year is always a time for reflection and goal setting.  We get a few days off and can put some distance between ourselves and the everyday bustle and minutiae of the business.  This affords an opportunity to think more strategically about where we want to be over the next few years and how to get there.    After all of the bonenkai and big dinners, we look at our waist line and think we should strike a blow for freedom and do something about removing that fatty liver build up.  We also know this is not our first rodeo and we have done and said all this before.    We have notes scattered amongst bits of paper or maybe even collected diligently in one place.  If you want a good laugh, go back and look at what you said you would do in the business or personally, a few years ago.  But this year it will be different.  Well, the Einstein take on insanity was repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  We were crazy kids in the past, but now we have seen the light.  So far so good.  Where do we start though?  IWWCW?   Start small.  Sounds a bit defeatist doesn’t it.  “No, I can do that big project!”.  Well going by track record so far, why would that idea be true?  Let’s try a different approach this year, aim lower to start off with and then build up the tempo.  We avoid the rush of blood to the head and steer clear of the initial “spurt mentality”.  We think more long term for a change.   We know that to change our results, we need to change what we are currently doing.  We also know we are creatures of habit and the current crop of habits is delivering what we are currently getting.  Ergo, we need to create some fresh habits.  New habits will generate new behaviour and that in turn will create better ways of working and living.  Employ IWWCW thinking.   For some people this gradual approach goes against their nature.  They want to crash through or crash.  Great.  How has that “crash through” bit been working out so far?  This is the obese crowd, crowding the gym in January but who evaporate by March.  This is the mad boss making massive changes all at once in the first quarter and seeing them fritter away by the third quarter.  Behaviour change is tough and needs a sustained programme to achieve results.   The new thinking is don’t plan for massive changes back at the office for the new year.  Go for the 4/64 dance card.  This is the next level of the Pareto Principle.  Pareto said that 20% of our efforts produce 80% of our results.  If we push the Pareto Principle even harder, then 4% of our efforts yields 64% of our results.  Let’s consider what that 4% might consist of?  Also compared to achieving nothing in particular, getting 64% seems pretty good.   IWWCW is good thinking but don’t try and eat the elephant in one gulp.  Find a 4% bite size piece that gets a 64% return in the business.  What might that be?  Is it some change to the systems being used now?  Is it shaving off some item that reduces scale by 4% but delivers a 64% cost saving? Is it a pin point investment in training the people to sharpen up their productivity?  Is it allocating 4% more of your time to supervise the very key functions of the team?