In This Edition Of The Soulful Lens at Work: ​
​
Most improvements feel good, but only the right ones actually move the needle.

• SOULFUL: Fixing anything feels good, but fixing the right things is where integrity (and soul) live.
• PRACTICAL: Using a blunt instrument for Transformation wastes capacity. Nothing comes without a cost.
• THE CONNECTION: Don’t let proxy metrics fool you; measure impact, not activity, and let data speak for you.
• TRY THIS: Pressure-test one improvement this week — forecast, make trade-offs explicit, and measure real impact.

Hi Reader,
​

I’m gonna let you in the dirty little secret of consulting….it’s easy to walk into an organization and make an improvement that you can show with metrics.

Here’s something that’s not easy…making the RIGHT improvements. The ones that make an impact on the company’s success. (customer value, revenue, etc.)

​

​

Why is this hard? Because broken stuff looks bad. Everyone agrees “We should just fix it! It’s so stupid! No regrets!” And when you object, you risk looking bad.

But there is a regret, a trade-off, we all have limited capacity which could go towards something more impactful.

Let’s talk through these “red herring improvements” and what you can do to nip them in the bud!

​

Soulfully ✨
​- Jardena

Fixing Anything Feels Good,
Fixing the Right Stuff Feels Even Better

There’s some counter-intuitive soulfulness in with this month’s topic. Because it feels so gratifying to fix things! We’re making people’s lives better, easing their burden. When we pour our energy into “easy wins” or highly visible fixes, we feel busy, helpful, validated.

Sadly, sometimes when things feel good, they aren’t actually useful. The proverbial “deck chairs on the Titanic”.​
​

When everyone agrees that a fix should be made, “no-regrets”, “common sense,” it can feel very un-soulful to raise an objection. I can guarantee you will not be the most popular person in the room. And that might not feel very soulful.

The soulful part of this is integrity. You have a responsibility to articulate the trade-off decision that is implicit in the actions. You might not win, but don’t back off until you’ve made the trade-offs clear to the decision maker.

Soulful work isn’t about being busy or beloved. In this case it’s about standing in your integrity, creating clarity, and then accepting the decision once you’ve made your point.

All Improvements have a Cost

When we target everything that has room for improvement, we end up swinging a blunt instrument hoping to improve the business outcomes. Unfortunately we often miss the actual constraint holding us back.

The Theory of Constraints teaches us that every system has a bottleneck — a single point limiting the whole flow. If you don’t address that constraint, improvements elsewhere might look shiny but change nothing meaningful.

Making improvements that aren’t blocking value eats up valuable capacity and focus that could be used elsewhere. Everything has a cost.

When we start focusing on the right improvements, we move from generic tinkering to precision. It’s like shifting from a sledgehammer to a scalpel.

Targeting the true constraint means resisting the urge to fix every annoying problem that pops up. It demands discipline and courage to say: “Yes, that’s broken — but fixing it won’t unlock real value yet.”

Surgical improvements create actual flow, better outcomes, and (bonus!) they stop wasting people’s time and energy on low-impact work.

Dust for Prints: Metrics and Value Streams

I’m reminded of a story from several years ago about a cholesterol-lowering drug. Studies showed that people were dying of heart attacks, and that a risk factor for heart attack was high cholesterol. The drug did lower cholesterol, but it turned out that it didn’t lower heart attack risk, and didn’t even lower death rates.

Do you have metrics like this for your Transformation Initiatives? Metrics that show you “did the thing,” but they don’t prove whether it actually mattered.

I often hear people say “I can’t measure something I can’t control.” and also, “There are too many other factors ; I can’t show causation.” Learning and development folks, for example, can track training completions but not directly prove a boost in productivity. And yes, many factors impact productivity, just like many factors cause heart attacks. That’s exactly why measuring only the easy metric (cholesterol) is flawed thinking.

We’re not after perfect causation; we’re after directional movement. If you’re too afraid to measure impact, how can anyone know whether to keep investing in an improvement?

The best way to nip wasteful improvements in the bud is by forecasting and measuring impact. Visualizing the value stream — how work flows from concept to cash — clarifies which improvements actually move value through the system.

When something is labeled “common sense” or “no regrets,” the only way to challenge it is with data. Metrics and value stream maps let the data do the talking. You don’t have to be the bad guy — the data can wear that hat for you.

Pick one improvement initiative on your plate right now — just one.

Ask yourself (or your team):

• What problem is this actually solving?
• Is this the true constraint in the system, or just a squeaky wheel?
• If we didn’t do this at all, what would really happen?

Now, forecast its impact. Sketch a quick before-and-after view on your value stream. Where will it change flow? How will it show up for the customer or the bottom line?

Then, make the trade-offs explicit. Say it out loud in your next meeting: “If we do this, we’re choosing not to work on X right now.”

Finally, set up real metrics — directional, not perfect — to track the actual impact. Make sure measurement challenges your assumptions - i.e. don’t just measure cholesterol levels.

Help shift energy where it matters most. Because soulful work isn’t about staying busy — it’s about making a real dent.