The Power of the "Small Start": Why GRC Transformation is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

We’ve all seen the January 1st phenomenon. Organizations often kick off the year with massive, sweeping mandates: “We’re going to automate every control, overhaul the entire Risk Register, and achieve SOC2 compliance by Q2.”

It sounds ambitious. It looks great on a slide deck. But in reality? This "all-or-nothing" mentality is often the biggest hurdle to actual security maturity.

At REDE, we believe that the most resilient GRC programs aren’t built through seasonal bursts of energy—they are built through normalized incremental progress.

The Perfection Trap

The "all-or-nothing" trap leads to burnout and half-finished projects. When you aim for a full-blown GRC transformation overnight, you often end up with a "shelf-ware" program: policies that exist on paper but aren't integrated into the culture of the company.

True Governance, Risk, and Compliance is a living ecosystem. For it to be effective, it has to be sustainable.

Focus on Iteration Over Perfection

If you want to see real movement this year, stop looking at the mountain and start looking at the path. Progress compounds. A 1% improvement in your risk posture every month results in a drastically more secure organization by December.

Here is how you can normalize small wins this quarter:

• Implement one new control: Don't try to roll out ten. Pick one—perhaps one that addresses a persistent pain point—and ensure it is fully integrated and tested.
  

• Update one high-risk policy: Instead of a bulk update, take one critical policy and refine it with actual stakeholder input. Make it readable and actionable.
  

• Launch a targeted awareness campaign: Forget the generic 40-minute training videos. Try a focused, 2-minute phishing blast that hits on a specific trend your team is seeing.
  

• Mature one area of your risk register: Pick a single domain—like Business Continuity or Data Residency—and dive deep. Clean up the data, assign clear owners, and set realistic triggers.

The REDE Perspective: Scale Sustainably

The goal isn't to be compliant for an audit; the goal is to stay secure for the long haul. When you scale gradually, you allow your team to absorb changes, you allow your culture to shift, and you ensure that your GRC framework can actually support the business rather than slowing it down.

This year, let’s trade the "Big Launch" for the "Steady Build."