The BIG WIN

Many top performers set high expectations for themselves and others by documenting a BIG goal. This goal becomes their North Star, setting the tone and expectation for the team, and where they drive their effort. Fans of Jim Collins went even bigger, adopting a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). Now that is aspirational!

But it takes many steps to get there. We don’t always “count” those small increments as wins, and in fact may view this progress and the pivots as failure until we actually accomplish the BIG goal.

Let’s look at an example. The iconic Disney movie Snow White became the first full-length animated feature film in the US, and the first film to release a multi-disc soundtrack set for the phonograph. This movie led to Disney becoming one of the most iconic and innovative filmmakers.

When Walt Disney created Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1927, every frame was drawn individually, with more than 750 artists contributing their talents. This amounted to 250,000 drawings and 3 years of time invested in the process. These incremental steps and individual sketches brought a vision to life that transformed entertainment.

Investing time and energy into building incremental progress may not feel like much at the time, but it will be a game changer. You are building a foundation of sustainable success. These “micro-wins” continue forward progress, and compound. Ignoring these accomplishments can result in a twisted mind game - you feel like you are never doing enough, or are never satisfied until you actually get the win. You are not successful until you achieve it. This is a false narrative. Each of these steps creates progress, learning and innovation.

Change the math.

Small wins means you are winning all the time. It feels better, it keeps you motivated and invested.

Micro abundance fuels macro abundance.