Comments on: Steady, Incremental Improvement is a Myth

By: Small Seeds to Success - Smart Path to Happiness

Small Seeds to Success - Smart Path to Happiness — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:00:48 +0000

[...] H Young wrote an article about success and I tend to agree with him. He claims that “success is lumpy”. By that he means [...]

By: Loren

Loren — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:48:09 +0000

I agree with some of this. Yes, success is lumpy, and it can be very random. But I also believe you can achieve success in gradual
incrments as well. An example would be working on my own home based business, while still retaining my day job. I am incrementally increasing my earnings and bank deposits. Then, we get our tax return from having stayed with our day jobs all year and there’s a little bonus money that is a lump sum. You could also use the example of selling junk on ebay to increase your earnings (incremental) and then the government sends you a stimulus check (lump). One more…Say you work out with weights every day and you see yourself getting fit and muscular, at a gradual rate (incremental) then one day while working out on the punching bag, you hit it so hard that the bag flys off the support beam. (lump) I believe you have to MAKE your own success, by working at it every day, AND accepting trigger dividends that come along now and again randomly.

“People only see the “LUCKY” guy in his sailboat cutting through the waters with wind in his sails. What they don’t see is the other 364 days he’s out there working at it.”

By: Dr Paradise

Dr Paradise — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:42:17 +0000

It is amazing that all the best advice in the world will not work with everyone. You have a great site and an admirable mission. Humans being what they are, are prone to certain self degrading acts that seem to creep into a lifestyle and become hard to dislodge. Good advice, and a great web page, I can see you have a great future in the motivating and inspiring of people. The great thing is that you will get better as you go along and hone your skills. You will find the going tough and human resistance hard to overcome, but I am sure you will do it. Thanks. I enjoyed my visit.

By: Best Weekend Reading From Around the Web 1/03/2009

Best Weekend Reading From Around the Web 1/03/2009 — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 08:02:05 +0000

[...] Scott Young wrote about the myth of steady improvement. [...]

By: Joe Lofshult

Joe Lofshult — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 06:51:02 +0000

Thanks for the post. Nice to have a little reminder that I need to keep putting in the day to day work on my blogs, my job, and my business even if I don’t see progress right away.

The idea that progress is lumpy, not steady, reminds of the book Mastery by George Leonard. In it he described improvement as a stair step. Months of laboring with no signs of improvement and then, all of a sudden, a change occurs and you notice improvement. Then maybe months more before the next improvement. But without the investment over those months you never would have gotten anywhere.

By: The Lure of Incremental Improvement | 3stylelife

The Lure of Incremental Improvement | 3stylelife — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:07:19 +0000

[...] Scott H. Young recently posted an interesting article claiming that steady, incremental improvement is a myth. [...]

By: Scott Young

Scott Young — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:29:40 +0000

Thanks for the comments,

Chris – I tend to write whenever I have ideas. I get more productivity ideas than communication ideas, but I try to write about it as much as I can.

-Scott

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:13:06 +0000

I agree with you Scott.

I’ve been trying to improve my communication skills and so far its been a slow process. I can go a while without feeling like I’m learning anything and then it will click. It’s a slow process. I’ve read your articles on communication and I’ve always been wanting for more. Your site is really usefull – you write good articles.

By: Lee Stranahan

Lee Stranahan — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:02:28 +0000

Great post – I did a little riff on it, aimed at artists here – http://leestranahan.com/?p=86

By: Overnight Sensation | STRANAHAN dot COM

Overnight Sensation | STRANAHAN dot COM — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:58:05 +0000

[...] Young has a good post called Steady, Incremental Improvement Is A Myth and even though it doesn’t mention the arts, a lot of it is sure relevant. Young says… [...]