Aidan McGarvey, Head of Consulting at Avencia Consulting
Today I want to talk about something I have seen far too many times. A team gets excited about a new initiative: the big vision, the shiny tech, the promise of transformation. Everyone leans in. It feels like a great opportunity for every corner of the business.
But as more people get involved, the wish list starts to grow. Every team sees a chance to fix its part of the world. Every process feels like it deserves its moment. And suddenly that initial burst of momentum becomes diluted. The scope creeps. The expectations expand.
People try to cram in more functionality, because why would you not make the most of the investment? The opportunities for efficiency gains seem endless, yet nothing moves. Weeks pass. Then months. And that quick win automation? It somehow becomes a never ending design workshop where no one remembers why they started in the first place.
Here is the uncomfortable truth: modernisation efforts do not fail because the idea was wrong. They fail because teams prioritise perfection and efficiency over real world impact.
Good Enough… Is Usually More Than Enough
Let me give you an example from a previous engagement. A client wanted to automate a key customer onboarding process. It was ready for automation, a high volume process with lots of time spent working it. The scope for improvement was significant.
Once we started investigating, every exception needed handling automatically, every customer variation must be accounted for, and every “what if” scenario needed covering. That was even before we considered future proofing the solution.
Before long, the business case that justified a quick automation was buried under complexity. No automation was delivered, and no value was gained, but plenty of budget was spent.
Enough was enough, and we had to put a stop to the initiative. We went back to the stakeholders and asked them: “What is one improvement we can make that will reduce 20% of your workload?”
With a more focused mindset and a defined objective, we launched that change. Because it touched thousands of transactions a week, the impact was huge. A small change, but a huge gain.
One small improvement, when applied at scale, compounded into real transformation. We had progress, and momentum built from there.
Impact First. Efficiency Later.
When organisations chase efficiency from day one, they often end up designing for a future that may never arrive. They slow things down trying to cover every edge case, every dependency, every exception the very things that might disappear once the process changes.
At Avencia Consulting, we believe there is a different approach:
- Focus on the biggest levers first
- Deliver something that moves a number on a dashboard
- Prove value early and expand only when the momentum demands it
That is how you earn belief, unlock further investment, and keep people engaged.
The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything
Modernisation is not about replacing every system or redesigning every process. It is about prioritising impact.
Ask this before you start designing: “If we stopped here, would the business feel a measurable improvement?”
If the answer is yes, then you are already winning.
You can always improve efficiency later. In fact, once you have made an impact, efficiency becomes easier because you are working with real data, real feedback, and real outcomes. Your colleagues can see the results and are more bought into the process.
Don’t Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Progress
If any of this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Almost every transformation starts with ambition and risks ending in over engineering.
That does not have to happen. If you focus on the pieces that change performance and deliver them fast, you will build belief and can scale what works.
If you need help figuring out where the impact truly sits, that is where we come in.
Let’s have a conversation and see if we can help you adopt a pragmatic approach to modernising your business.
