This morning I brushed my teeth in a sink full of chips of wood and chunks of concrete. The renovation of my mom’s condo has moved upstairs, where both bedrooms—and the only bathroom with a shower—are located. I spend less than 10% of my waking hours upstairs. Yet this has easily been the most disruptive phase of the renovation.
It reminded me of something we often get wrong about transformational change. We tend to assess impact by size. A large function has hundreds of employees, so we assume a change affecting it deserves more attention than one affecting a much smaller group.
But disruption isn’t proportional to size. It’s proportional to criticality. A small Tier 2 Customer Support team, for instance, may be far more critical to the business than a much larger Enablement organization. The same thing is happening upstairs. Apparently, sleeping and showering don’t become less critical simply because they occupy a relatively small portion of my day.
When assessing transformational change, don’t just ask how many people will be affected. Ask what happens if their capability is disrupted. Sometimes the smallest groups can have the biggest impact.