Consistency is a good thing. Consistency can make it easier to work together, reduce confusion and misunderstandings, increase the likelihood that information and data are accurate and useful, make it easier to find things, and generally increase the chances that something will be done reliably and accurately. Without a fair amount of consistency, life would be chaotic and results unpredictable.

But, consistency can also waste a lot of time and money. Doing something because it has always been done that way or because other things like it are done that way can lead to waste. Consistency for the sake of consistency adds no value! 

Beware these consistency traps:

• Documenting a procedure because all procedures are documented, not because anyone would ever need the documentation
• Holding a meeting because you always hold a meeting, not because there is an agenda with a clear purpose
• Sending out a newsletter because the newsletter is due, not because there is news
• Updating an out-of-date document, even if it is never referenced
• Copying everyone ‘just in case’
• Filing something you will never look at again
• Responding to an email that never should have been sent to you
• Finishing a book that isn’t about what you thought it was about and isn’t very interesting either
• Creating a team because you always create a team

Some things are always “done that way” because the standard way represents good practice. We may not know why it is good practice, but we have learned to follow many good practices anyway. Were we to try to come up with the reason behind a practice, we might fail to think of one, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It may be only after we stop doing something that we suddenly understand why it was a good practice.

For example: I took a canoe trip with a friend and the friend decided that coiling the rope we used to hang our food in a tree before putting the rope in the pack each morning was a waste of time. I was busy and couldn’t quickly think of why I always did it that way, but the next afternoon I knew why. The rope was tangled with many other things in the bottom of the kettle pack.

So, do we have to stay with the status quo just in case? No! As a matter of fact, now that I think about that rope, I have an even better way to keep it from getting tangled!

Only when you challenge the status quo and understand both the goal and the reasons for current behaviors can you come up with reasonable improvements.

Tips for Eliminating Consistency for the Sake of Consistency

1. Encourage employees to examine habits. Frequently ask if a task really adds value. Be creative, both in the examining and in the encouragement.
2. “Test drive” changes before involving lots of people, time and money.
3. Save the documentation, templates, tools, whatever supports the old method until the change is tested and permanent. Then toss them.
4. Once a trial improvement is proven, spread the news, spread the method, and spread the spirit so more waste will be eliminated!