11 Jun
When we’re trying to improve operations, we usually start with what’s wrong.
The bottlenecks. The constraints. The things that aren’t working. The problems to solve.
That makes sense. Find the problem, fix the problem.
But there’s another approach that’s equally powerful and often overlooked: bright spots.
Bright spots are the pockets of exceptional performance where things are already going right.
This concept comes from Chip and Dan Heath’s book Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. It’s rooted in the science of Positive Deviance. Instead of getting bogged down in root-cause analysis of failures, you flip the mindset and ask: what’s already working?
Then you study it and replicate it.
Here’s how this played out with one of our clients.
A professional services firm came to us feeling stuck. They were constantly solving problems and trying to figure out why everything about their operating model was so difficult. It had started wearing on their team. The negativity was building.
But in the middle of all this, they had also identified star performers. People who, even with all the same difficulties, outperformed everyone else.
So instead of only asking “what’s broken?” we asked “what are these people doing differently?”
We studied their behaviors. Their habits. Their workarounds. The things they did that others didn’t.
And then we replicated those bright spots across the organization.
Not everyone was onboard at first. Some people didn’t want to emulate their peers. But the shift in conversation—from constant negativity to a positive reframe—changed everything.
The result? Double-digit growth the following year.
Here’s why this matters.
When you only focus on what’s broken, you train your team to see problems everywhere. That’s exhausting. It wears people down.
When you also look for what’s working, you give people something to move toward. A model. A proof point. Evidence that success is possible with the same constraints everyone else is dealing with.
The best performers in your organization have already figured something out.
They’re succeeding despite the bottlenecks, despite the broken systems, despite the chaos. The question is: do you know what they’re doing? And are you replicating it?
Where are the bright spots in your organization? That might be the fastest path to improvement.