Life is all about small margins. Quite often there is a small difference between winning and losing, success and failure, hitting or missing a target, securing an election victory or defeat or achieving a goal.

There was an example at this summer’s Rio Olympics which illustrated this fact perfectly. Great Britain’s Lutalo Muhammad suffered an agonising last-second defeat in the men’s +80kg taekwondo final – losing 8-6 to Cheick Sallah Cisse of the Ivory Coast.

Muhammad led 6-4 but was hit by a reverse turning kick to his neck with the last action of the final. So with one second of his contest to go he was set to be Olympic champion and get a gold medal. However, he lost the bout and had to settle for a silver medal. It must have been heart-breaking for him to come so close and miss out on achieving his gold medal dream.

It can be the tiniest of margins that determine the outcome of situations. I am sure you can recall examples from your own life experiences where you missed out on something and it was determined by a small difference.

It maybe the extra half an hour that you spent revising for a test or exam rather than watching TV that got you the extra marks to help you to pass or get a better grade. You may have put in extra time when learning to drive to revise your highway code which helped you answer a question you just read about and led to you passing the test.

If you play sport, for example golf, the extra practice time on your putting may have clinched you a victory in your local club’s championship event. An extra hour preparing for an important customer meeting may have enabled you to be prepared for a question you were asked and helped to clinch the deal. One final phone call or e mail to a prospective customer may have secured a meeting which led to a large project being sold and in the process securing a valuable long term customer relationship.

There is a great African proverb often credited to Anita Roddick, founder of Body Shop, which summarises the power of small:-

“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.”

This is a great quote to use in team meetings and personal development reviews.

Remind your team about the importance and significance of small actions and the huge impact they can have. The extra 1% of effort may be the difference between achieving a target or not. It may be the edge that’s needed in order to be successful.

Small incremental steps applied consistently everyday lead to outstanding results. It is always worth remembering that one action applied every working day of the year amounts to 260 actions! This is a great way of breaking down a large project or goal that seems overwhelming into manageable chunks.

For instance, if you have an ambition to write a book, if you write one page every weekday (giving yourself a break at the weekend) after one year you would have written a 260 page book!

This week, why not take a few moments to reflect and consider the following:

Where could you or your team apply an extra degree of effort and focus to increase results or customer service?

What small actions could you take daily or weekly to help you to achieve a goal or dream that you have?

This week’s quotation:

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” John Wooden.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk