I was in Seattle last week for work. It was a great visit, a time to connect with co-workers I hadn’t had the pleasure to meet before, as well as a time to re-connect with co-workers from all over the world.

While at dinner on Tuesday night one of our executives stopped by our table and made a statement that really resonated. It was in response to a question from one of my teammates regarding the pace of change at the company.

“The only time you feel a cruise ship turn is when it’s in port.”

The quote is really about incremental change. There is a context. The company I work for is in the middle of a merger with one of our biggest competitors. The comment really made me think about the pace of change, but more specifically incremental change.

The gurus will tell us to “take massive action”, but massive action isn’t always the solution. Sometimes massive action can create more problems in the long run.

Real, long-lasting, change is accomplished via small, daily, improvement.

This small and seemingly insignificant daily improvement can compound and becomes massive over time.

As someone who’s worked in tech for years, I’ve long been a fan of the Dilbert Comics by Scott Adams. So many of the absurdities of office life that I’ve experienced in my sales career are captured so perfectly. In the past few years Adams has emerged as a major figure in the political space due to his prediction that Donald Trump would win the 2016 Presidential Election. In addition to his comics I’m a huge fan of his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. In the book Adams tells his life story with great emphasis on the tools he’s used to become a successful cartoonist and entrepreneur. Like you would expect from the guy who gave us Dilbert, it’s a pretty funny book, but also very inspiring as he details his determination to overcome some serious health obstacles while starting several companies.

The Only Time You Feel a Cruise Ship Turn is When It's In Port: The Power of the Compound Effect

You Need a System: The Best Thing I Learned from Scott Adams