Two words: Efficiency mindset.

Companies that have managed to break the cycle of recurring initiatives take a long-term approach. They adopt an efficiency mindset and identify a few key behaviors that trigger organizational change. While many companies worry a corporate culture focused on efficiency will strangle growth or degrade the customer experience, our research shows the opposite result. Companies that embrace an efficiency mindset are four times more likely to say their cost efforts enabled growth rather than hindered it. They also are four and a half times more likely to report improved customer experience. Australian telecom Telstra, for example, launched a corporate-wide efficiency program that removed AUS $3 billion in error and waste from operational processes while delivering dramatic improvements in customer experience.