Fri, June 18, 2010 - 9:44:58

Why the Big Boss Should Shrink His Outlook

Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu famously mused, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” but as we write in THE POWER OF SMALL: Why Little Things Make All the Difference, far too often, business leaders get too caught up in the magnitude of the final destination to recognize the importance each footprint holds.
 
This week as we were perusing The Conversation, we came across a fantastic post by Stanford professor and author, Bob Sutton in which he explains that failing to set small milestones is an all-too-common mistake many managers make every day—and one that could actually impede their ability to achieve what he calls “stretch goals.”

In his post, Sutton brings up a number of interesting points, from the fact that big goals are too generic to be meaningful, to the reality that most are too daunting to be motivational. 

For example, when discussing stretch goals like making your numbers for the quarter, the concept can feel both too large and too abstract to truly grasp. And for that reason, such large goals can actually be counter-productive. But, when broken down into smaller, more manageable chunks—what we like to call “mini-tasks”—they can be more easily accomplished.

But, perhaps one of the most unexpected ideas he explains is that “ambitious goals rarely send people in directions they didn’t realize they needed to go.”

And this is truly why, in business and in life, little things make all the difference.  The problem with living in a big picture world is that in doing so, you overlook the millions of tiny pixels that join together to shape it.  But, when you zero in on the tiny details—the ones you might think are too miniscule to matter—you open yourself up to a new realm of possibilities, solutions, and strategies.

By working toward incremental goals, instead of just the big ones, you can easily accomplish tasks in manageable bites and fuel your professional pursuits with the satisfaction of “small wins.” But, that’s not all. By working inch by inch, you give yourself the chance to discover the little things that might be missing—and by addressing those needs, take your business in a direction you might have otherwise never imagined.

Posted by Linda and Robin