Most transformations don’t fail because leaders lack ambition. They fail because nobody knows what progress actually looks like.
Leaders celebrate kick-off events, big announcements or new organizational charts as milestones. But those things don’t tell you if change is really taking root. They measure activity, not progress.
Progress is subtler. It shows up first in the work people are doing, then in the results that the work produces and finally in the way others begin to join in. Like a flywheel, each turn makes the next turn easier.
So, how do you know whether you are making progress?
1. Consistent Actions – Are You Getting To Work On Cooler Stuff?
The earliest sign of progress isn’t scale, it’s action. At the beginning you want to start small. The goal is to get early wins. So work with your early adopters and champions on small projects.
Over time, the measure of progress is whether you are getting to work on cooler stuff. At the beginning, it’s okay to take the opportunities that are available to you. This is how you demonstrate your value and gain credibility.
You then have to leverage that credibility to get the chance to work on the things you really want to work on.
2. Visible Results – Are You Having A Larger And Growing Impact?
It is important to realise that consistent actions build credibility only when they create results. So make sure that you get early wins. These have to be visible, verifiable and have a clear business impact.
Generating visible results buys you the influence to request more resources. Your initiative is now legitimate in the eyes of skeptics and gives people evidence that change is worth their time.
Over time, you can leverage your growing resources to create even bigger wins. One small success is good. But the measure of progress is whether you are having a large and growing impact on your organization.
3. Growing Engagement – Are More People Joining Without Being Asked?
Every transformation starts with early adopters. This is the path of least resistance. These are the people who already buy into what you are trying to do. At the beginning, progress depends on them.
But the real sign of momentum is when engagement spreads beyond that initial group of champions. The combination of consistent actions and visible results should start to inspire colleagues outside the early adopters to join your initiative.
The strongest signal of progress is if people are joining you voluntarily without being pushed. That is when you know you have momentum.
This is how social proof works. People look to the behavior of others to decide what’s safe and worthwhile. As soon as they see their peers engaged and delivering results, participation becomes contagious.
The Momentum Flywheel
If you want to know whether your transformation initiative is making progress, don’t just ask if you are executing against your roadmap. You should also check if you are creating momentum. Ask yourself if you are:
- Getting to work on cooler stuff?
- Having a larger and growing impact?
- Getting more people joining without being asked?
If the answer is YES to all three questions, your flywheel is creating momentum. Once you reach the tipping point, the transformation stops being something you are pushing, it becomes something that pulls the whole organization forward.