“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius

We’re a month into 2026, and all I keep thinking about is change.  Not just the global change we see, or technological change, but change for us as leaders in our own small piece of the world. 

There are so many organizations that underachieve.  You can look at the product or service they offer, and it’s great.  You can look at the people they have, and they’re fantastic.  And on and on. 

And yet, the results never seem to add up.  No one can ever figure out why, but something’s missing.  Year after year, these organizations never quite seem to be able to max out what they have and who they are.  It’s puzzling and frustrating, but in the end, they just accept it as their reality.

There is only one way to stop each year from feeling like a disappointing repeat.  You have to actually do something different.  You can’t keep taking the same actions and wonder they you get the same frustrating results.

Yet that’s what most organizations do.  They do things, they’re frustrated with the outcome, then next year they do the same things.  Eventually, they just settle for those frustrating, underachieving results.

Don’t do that.  Don’t settle for less than you’re capable of because you don’t want to do anything different.  Don’t complain that you’re frustrated or disappointed or whatever and then refuse to make change. 

If what you’re doing is resulting in less than you think it should, then do something different.  What could be different about the product or service you offer that might make it more valuable to your customers?  What skill or behavior could you or your people add that would make the team function at a higher level? 

There are dozens of questions like that you could ask, and somewhere in the answers to those questions you will find change.  It will be difficult, because change always is.  You may not get it right the first time, because sometimes we have to try several different things before we find the right one.

But don’t let that stop you.  Ask the right questions, find the right answers, and get to work.  Don’t settle for being less than you’re meant to be, or less than you’re capable of.  Keep pushing and changing and fighting for your peak.