In the middle of givin’ up on your job? Thinkin’ of pulling down the shutters and closing your business? Tired of the dead-ends? We get it: you’re feeling demotivated. But how’d the famous folks over at major companies get to where they are now? Innovators, business people, and leaders; you think they have it easy? Do you think Steve Jobs jumped directly from zero to a net worth of $10.2 billion, and Apple just came outta the blue? It all took small efforts to reach the bigger goals.
Once, Oprah Winfrey mentioned a famous saying that goes, “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” (Originally by Rober Collier) And this is the most beautiful thing you might read today. Every little step you take toward your destination counts and must be celebrated, at least in your head.
Each one of us had those moments when a small, insignificant thing that occurred days ago becomes a turning point in our lives until we realize the importance it holds. We often ignore minute details of our day-to-day life events and focus only on the bigger picture, even though achieving that bigger picture requires micro success.
So, hey there, yes, you are the one who is on the verge of giving up. Try not to quit that early because we might have something you need right now—a small dose of motivation and a reality check for business managers. Inspired by the article “The Power Of Small Wins” by Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, we have garnered the fuel to recover your lost hopes. What are small wins, their impact on our lives, why should we embrace them, how do they boost our motivation, and why did we neglect them?
First of All, “Small Wins”
Let’s take a cake as the metaphor for your business. Now, imagine you are making a birthday cake for your loved one, and you want it to come out as perfect as possible. However, you are not sure if you have all the ingredients you need available at home. For your business to work, those ingredients include skillful employees, office equipment, office supplies, clients, etc.
The first milestone to achieve here is to gather the ingredients needed to make your cake. You will search every cabinet in your kitchen and pull out whatever ingredient you find there. If anything is not there, you will go to the grocery store and get it ASAP. Once you put each one of those ingredients on your table, you win your first milestone. In your case, once you have the necessities to kickstart your business, you achieve your initial milestone. Celebrating what you achieved is what a small win is.
Back to the research article, referencing James D. Watson’s Book The Double Helix, an account of DNA structure discovery, Amabile and Kramer relished how little achievements towards something meaningful mattered to great minds like Francis Crick and James Watson. When setbacks like failed DNA models held them back, micro-successes like the initial emergence of DNA shape encouraged them forward. These small wins led to the most significant discovery of humanity: DNA.
The micro triumphs or improvements could be completing a part of a project, solving a challenging problem, or receiving positive feedback from your manager. Through their research, we can learn that when you do something meaningful, you do it to make the right progress. It also gives you a sense of accomplishment while boosting your morale and motivating you as an individual or a team.
Why Small Wins Are Important In A Business
Great leaders had the habit of writing each small win in the diaries to cherish those little victories later. In this way, they valued their micro successes. The research also explores the diaries of those leaders, and we can look at their memory lane. Those diaries are an open proof of their lives and how they used to acknowledge and celebrate their small wins.
History tells us how a sense of progress—significantly impacts an individual’s motivation and creativity at the workplace.
Once you start noticing your progress, even a tiny thing you achieve will trigger a positive change within you. This positive change makes you happy. But how does it do that?
With this boost in your morale, dopamine, your happy hormone releases in your body, making you satisfied with your work. This satisfaction and happiness will keep you on track to continue your efforts and enhance your performance and creativity.
Sometimes, being a manager, you can also be why your employees or juniors are not productive enough to fulfill their KPI requirements. Why, though? Maybe you are not the kinda a manager who appreciates even the minute efforts your employees make. Don’t worry we are not blaming you. But what if you are the type of a manager who does not encourage small efforts by your employees and is continuously focusing on their mistakes?
Be The Reason Their Dopamine Boosts
While you get busy with the hustle-bustle, you miss out on the rule of appreciating small efforts. But you know, that feeling you get when your team reaches even the tiniest milestone? That feeling is out of the world, and your team might be waiting for it just like you do.
But how can you get there? You gotta make a strategy to keep your team’s morale boosted so that they will do their jobs with great enthusiasm. A clear strategy or setting milestones, tell them you will reward them if they achieve the set goals.
On the other hand, remember their tiny steps to progress; those small wins we usually brush off under the rug are the core of their motivation. Think about it – when your team members make an effort, no matter how small, it has helped you achieve your goals. Are you gonna ignore them? No, you will highlight them and let them know you appreciate it.
Investigating this whole progress thing has opened my eyes. Previously, I believed that acknowledging greater victories was the key to consistent progress. But now I know appreciating small successes is like watering a plant. Even though it may look small, with the correct care, it can grow into a productive plant.
Kudos to those who make things easier for others! You know, managers can be the worst nightmare of an employee. I read it somewhere: “Rookie managers with poor leadership skills can become walking anxiety for employees.” You keep nagging for those petty mistakes, and you keep getting on their nerves. They will keep giving you zero productivity, and it goes on!
Be more of a yes-person. Say Yes to little things and keep your Nos for things that matter. Let’s say your employee is at his dead-brain-cells day and in no mood to do the job. You are 3-days in for the deadline, but you keep pushing it to be done today. You are saying No to something that can be dealt with later. Instead, say, go on, Sam, let’s give it a day. Simple as that!
Instead of ogling at the pesky self-set-rules of discipline, see their tiny efforts. Maybe life is hard on them, and it’s not their day. Maybe they just had a breakdown, and they’re trying to heal.
Come on, be there for them, show them they matter. Grab their hands from the shadows and show them what they’re capable of.
Until now, you were the reason their serotonin increased. Try to be easy on them. Give them a breather to figure out, please.
Be the ‘Why’ their dopamine hits the sky. Instead of nagging, think of supporting. Make the workplace less boring and more interesting.
Been There, Done That
Once you were also at the point where your employees are now. Give it a thought… You would have still been there if your manager wasn’t good enough to push you forward. Push you forward as in encouraging and appreciating.
Perception!
When you were a junior employee, did you make perceptions on your company, people, clients, and management? If yes, hello, we are in the same boat.
I had weird perceptions about my company. I thought of corporate culture as money-making machines that treat employees as robots. Isn’t this true in some ways? We work and help them make money.
What if my manager had shown me a different angle of viewing this corporate culture? What if he had told me, “This company is our dwellin’, and it is nothing without me.” I would have felt the urge to save it as if it was a survivor game and I was the only one stuck in that sinking ship 🙂
What if my manager was more like a friend sitting beside me, figuring out how to handle an angry client? I would have had a different perception. It would have made me feel like a team. Like we are on the same side!
How we perceive it matters a lot, rookie!
Well, enough of the bashing. I know you are on the tough side. You are answerable to people above you. All that upper management pressure makes you fussy. Blah! Blah! Blah! But you know you can break the chain.
Be supportive understanding, and keep your cool. That’s all we ask from you. We brought Amabile and Kramer’s research to the forefront to tell you how every small win has an impact.
Progress comes with happy employees rather than with fussy managers.
12K Employees 1 Thing In Common
They gotta be kiddin’ me. 76% of them were over the moon on their happy days. Their KPIs showed progress, and their managers were happy. Safe to say Dopamine is a real thing. It can make you productive as hell :p
But what happened on the bad-mood-days? Only 25% of productive employees were spotted.
Basically, the game is simple. Happy employees, happy clients!
Break’em Into Chunks
Talkin about the goals, not the employees, lol! In short, think of higher goals but set small achievable milestones.
Although they may seem insignificant, even the tiniest progress can bring a sense of triumph. It’s important to remember that milestones, which serve as a measure of progress, are established by individuals or groups alike.
Say, a programmer and the bug. That pesky bug may be an eyesore to him, but to the rest of us, it’s just a glitch that impacts the system’s functionality.
Do you know what a smart manager will do? He will play his game. He will make this bug a small chunk (milestone) of something great. It will give the programmer a sense of responsibility and the kick he needs. Tell him the bug can become a huge nuance if the entire system goes down.
Make bug fixing a milestone for him and watch the joy he gets once he achieves this milestone. Become a part of this little joy and celebrate it with him, tell him you owe him one. This little bug might not have a direct impact on the project itself but might have an impact on the creativity of the programmer.
On the other hand, setbacks spread negativity, and as we know, negative emotions are more powerful than positive ones. As managers, it is on you to minimize these daily hurdles and celebrate these minor victories.
The Meaningful Progress Paradigm
Some work days leave you feeling fulfilled, while others drain your energy. The reason behind this is the need for more sense of accomplishment in that job—for example, in washing pots or checking coats, the power of progress felt elusive. No matter how hard you worked, the tasks seemed endless, leaving you devoid of a sense of accomplishment. Why? Because those tasks felt irrelevant and lacked a sense of accomplishment to you.
However, how can you, being a manager, make the work meaningful for your employees? You don’t need to perform miracles. All you gotta do is ensure your employees understand how their work contributes to the company’s progress. Instead of showing how insignificant their efforts are or ignoring them completely, you can show how ordinary tasks can turn into meaningful progress.
In the article “The Power Of Small Win,” they showed how Steve Jobs persuaded John Scully to join Apple by showing how he can contribute meaningfully by doing what he’s best at but at the right place. And later, the progress of Apple and John Scully as a business manager is in front of us. This is how a good manager leverages words into meaningful work.
Making An Environment For Progress
First of all, let’s discuss the environment. An environment that is made to succeed involves two important elements. 1) Catalysts and 2) Nourishers. And a manager can be both, but how? Before answering how, know what these elements are in a workplace.
1. Catalyst: Who provides the necessities (Goals, autonomy, resources) to foster progress.
2. Nourisher: Who gives the purpose (Respect, recognition, and encouragement) to foster progress.
You can be a catalyst turning in the background, making every task smoother and more rewarding. Or a nourisher that turns individuals into an unbreakable team. When you become both you make the workplace a safe haven. It’s not just about completing tasks; it’s about orchestrating an atmosphere where every challenge met and every goal accomplished becomes a win.
Simply, being both promotes the IWL of an employee. Let’s say, when an employee is getting the necessary resources to carry out his daily tasks, he knows that his job holds value to the company, and that is why they are investing in the resources.
And, when an employee is appreciated even for the micro-success, he knows HE is important to the company and will live up to the mark to maintain his repo. Kinda a win-win situation for the junior and the management.
A Manager’s Blueprint for Success
We can list down the footsteps of a good manager, but we want you to understand the tried and tested ways a manager can foster business progress. We have pinpointed some of the most impactful blueprints a manager must adapt to become an exemplary manager with the help of Amabile and Kramer’s research article.
Every action of yours must be with purpose. You gotta be the path that guides your disciples. You must plan everything so that every step you take is carefully calculated and there are fewer chances for any mishaps. Even if anything goes sideways, you are very calm and figure out a way out without blaming anyone. You must be ready with answers and solutions!
Next, have an empathetic connection with your team. If you are well connected with them, you will know what buttons to click to make things work with your team. We ask you to become their mentor instead of a micro-manager. Understand what they are struggling with and suggest possible solutions. This is possible if you offer an open communication system and make them feel heard. Show them that you are on their side.
Now, focus on them individually instead of collectively. Not every employee who works under you is the same, so treat them separately. For example, you must have the intuition to provide tailored support. You must become the catalyst when the team needs a push and a nourisher when they seek encouragement.
The most important thing, when the time comes, is to give them autonomy to make decisions for themselves in the company. But before that, you must guide, guide, and guide until they are completely trained to make decisions. When you give them the authority to make decisions in their work, you build a bond of trust with them.
Fueling The Chain Of Success With Meaningful Work
The meaningful work you do is in a loop with success. The small wins you cherished boosted your motivation, which boosted your progress—making you celebrate the small wins again. This is a Progress Loop, which says inner work life fuels results, and good results, rooted in consistent progress, enhance inner work life.
It is a cycle in our subconscious that promotes positivity within a company that can take individuals and the company to extreme heights. Managers, on the other hand, are the key to nurturing this chain of success. They can support their employees’ daily improvements and boost their inner work lives. It further simplifies your role as a manager; once you start the chain of acknowledgment, you will have a psychological impact on them.
