Leaders often say: "We need to change."
What they usually mean is: "We need better outcomes."
Faster turnaround. Fewer errors. Less rework. Lower risk. More growth.
Change is not the goal. Change is the vehicle that gets you to the goal.
This matters, because most organisations accidentally design change the wrong way around. They start with activities ("roll out the tool", "run the training", "update the process") and hope the outcome shows up later.
It rarely does.
If you only remember one line from this post, make it this:
Outcomes first. Change second. Tools last.
Why change (in plain English)
In an SME, change is not a corporate hobby. It is usually triggered by one of five pressures:
Those are not "change reasons". Those are business reasons.
When you frame the why in those terms, two useful things happen:
- People stop debating opinions and start debating evidence.
- You can measure progress without pretending everything is perfect.
Why change fails (even with smart people)
In my experience, change usually fails for two boring reasons:
1. The destination is fuzzy
If the outcome is vague ("be more innovative", "use AI", "modernise"), people cannot steer. They default to old habits.
2. The new behaviour is optional
If the change does not show up in weekly routines, ownership, and accountability, it becomes theatre.
Workshops can feel great. Tool rollouts can look busy. Pilots can generate excitement.
But if Monday morning looks the same as last Monday morning, nothing actually changed.
How to change (a practical method that works in SMEs)
Here is a simple approach you can run without consultants, drama, or 200-slide decks.
I call it: Destination. Route. Vehicle.
Step 1: Write the outcome in one sentence
Make it measurable and human.
"Reduce proposal turnaround from 5 working days to 2, without reducing win rate."
"Cut customer response time in half, while maintaining quality."
"Reduce month-end reporting effort by 30%, with the same accuracy."
If you cannot write it in one sentence, you do not yet know what you are changing for.
Step 2: Map the workflow in one page
List the steps that turn input into output.
Enquiry → discovery → proposal draft → revisions → approval → send → follow-up
Keep it simple. You are not documenting. You are making work visible.
Step 3: Find the friction
Ask three questions at each step:
- Where does it slow down?
- Where does it get redone?
- Where does risk appear?
Friction is the real reason change is needed. Not the tool.
Step 4: Choose one small change that removes friction
Not ten changes. One.
Good first experiments are:
- Repeatable
- Reviewable
- Easy to measure
- Not too sensitive
A practical operating rule that helps early on:
AI drafts. People decide.
Even if you never use AI, that sentence is a good principle for any change. Let the new way of working produce the first draft. Let human judgement make the final call.
The point
Change is not something you do to your business. It is something you do for your business.
When you start with the outcome, map the work, find the friction, and choose one small experiment, change stops feeling like a project and starts feeling like progress.
That is the difference between change that sticks and change that fades.
Destination. Route. Vehicle.
In that order.
Want to talk through where to start?
A short orientation call is a good way to identify your first high-value experiment.