Great Leaders Balance Incremental Progress with Exponential Leaps

Trait #14: Great Leaders Balance Incremental Progress with Exponential Leaps

In leadership, there’s a quiet power in the daily grind—those small, steady improvements that compound over time. Most organizations are built on this rhythm: refining processes, tightening systems, and nudging performance forward. It’s the domain of Continuous Improvement Programs, Lean thinking, and Six Sigma. And it works.

But great leaders know that incrementalism alone won’t get you to the stars.

At Evahan, we’ve seen firsthand that while incremental wins build resilience and reliability, they must be paired with occasional, calculated leaps—those bold, exponential plays that redefine what’s possible. Without them, you risk becoming a company that’s “good” for 50 years but never great.

This is the tension between:

• Kaizen (continuous improvement) and Kaikaku (radical change).
• The Japanese model of methodical excellence and the American model of disruptive ambition.

• The Walkman and the iPod.

   

“A company that constantly incrementally improves is good, but unless you’re willing to bet bigger—and be prepared to lose bigger—at a much lower frequency, you’ll never lock away exponential wins.”

This isn’t about recklessness. It’s about strategic courage. It’s about knowing when to keep polishing the machine—and when to build a new one.

In a recent email to a client about innovation strategy, I reflected on how this balance plays out in team formation and leadership:

“Deliberate team formation, autonomy balanced with oversight, and adequate resourcing are crucial. These factors contribute to both incremental and exponential innovation. The trick is doing it quickly and efficiently.”

The best leaders don’t just manage this balance—they embody it. They know when to say, “Let’s improve this 1%,” and when to say, “Let’s try something that might fail—but if it works, it changes everything.”

Case in Point: Jeff Bezos

A standout example of a U.S. business leader who mastered this duality is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.

Why Bezos Fits the “Bipolar Methodology” Model:

• Incremental Mastery: Amazon’s core business—e-commerce—was built on relentless optimization. From warehouse logistics to customer service algorithms, Bezos championed a culture of continuous improvement. Amazon’s famed “two-pizza teams” and data-driven experimentation reflect this Kaizen-like discipline.
• Exponential Bets: At the same time, Bezos wasn’t afraid to make massive, high-risk bets. The launch of AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a prime example—an entirely new business model that now generates over $80 billion annually. Similarly, the acquisition of Whole Foods and the development of Alexa and Prime Video were moonshots that redefined Amazon’s scope.

• Leadership Philosophy: Bezos famously said,

  “If you double the number of experiments you do per year, you’re going to double your inventiveness.”
  This mindset captures the essence of this trait: incrementalism builds the engine, but exponential thinking fuels the rocket.