The shot heard around the world began with a small snap
This 4th of July, appreciate small things...
Small things.
We underestimate their power.
Today is Independence Day in the U.S.
The Revolutionary War for U.S. independence changed the face of the world forever and it all began with a series of seemingly small events occurring within the right conditions and with the right people playing roles.
One of the small acts that the British thought inconsequential, in the scheme of things, was the Stamp Act. This was a tax the British Imposed on the Colonists to help raise funds to offset the cost of the French & Indian War.
However, if the conditions in the Colonies had not been right, the ignition points may not have been lit. What conditions?
Let's distill it down to simple. Consider the following:
Not-quite-yet Americans believing they had the power and right to govern themselves.
A handful of courageous leaders with a vision for change and willingness to embrace uncertainty.
A series of small events sparking in the dry timber of the right conditions and right people in the right places.
Change is hard, and painful sometimes but it is not always bad.
Events unfolded that if not leaned into, might have smoldered and died away (like the Boston Massacre).
Had our forefathers told themselves, "we can't do this" or "we are afraid of what might happen" "this will be too hard", or perhaps, "why bother, it will always be this way" then America may not have happened, or certainly when and how it came to be.
Because the conditions were right, the right people were leading the effort and the effort itself was worthwhile, there were profound moments of Organizational Flow which occurred to propel things forward.
Paul Revere's night time warning ride was one such thing.
Riding at full tilt through the dark and dangerous countryside on horseback, the renowned Silversmith turned Patriot alerted Samuel Adams, John Hancock, along with the colonial minutemen, who like Revere als likely found their flow and immediately responded to thwart the oncoming British Army.
A series of small things that led to profoundly large results.
In file, in business, it’s all like building a nation.
The courage to act on the right small things, when the properly identified conditions are in place, with the right people engaged, can...will...change the trajectory of everything.
Achieving something better always requires doing something different. Change doesn't have to be all-consuming, grand, and all at once activities.
No. Sweeping all-at-once actions actually starve change's oxygen.
You want to ignite flow and change everything?
Start with finding the right ignition source that is usually found in seemingly small things.