Courageous Change: Challenging an Entrenched but Inefficient Process

Question

Tell me about a time you questioned a long-standing company process because you believed it was no longer effective. How did you build a case for change? Who did you need to win over, and what was the result of your intervention?

Accepted Answer

At my previous firm, we had a mandatory 'Daily Status Meeting' that lasted 60 minutes and involved 25 people. It was an entrenched part of the culture, but I calculated it was costing the company roughly 125 man-hours per week with very little actionable output. I built a case for change by tracking the 'action items' generated vs. hours spent over two weeks. I presented this to the Head of Operations, proposing a move to a 'Slack-based asynchronous update' and a 15-minute 'exceptions-only' stand-up. I had to win over several veteran managers who felt the meeting was vital for 'alignment.' I offered a two-week trial period for one department to prove the concept. During the trial, productivity in that department increased by 10%, and employee satisfaction scores rose. The new format was adopted company-wide. This taught me that challenging the status quo requires not just an 'opinion' that something is wrong, but a data-backed alternative and a low-risk way for stakeholders to test the change.

Courageous Change: Challenging an Entrenched but Inefficient Process

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