In Praise of Small

“if you think you are too small to make a difference, try going to sleep with a mosquito”.

In truth be told, I was initially annoyed. Annoyed at the inflated claims associated with change. Annoyed at desires for scalable (large) impact. Annoyed mostly at how those claims may often the interests of practitioners as opposed to clients. Indeed grandiose claims may serve (inadvertently) to shame clients in their own struggles. If these people can make magnificent changes, why can’t I? I think the annoyance too stems from some of the work undertaken with clients sitting with them alongside their struggles. Attending to (and sharing) a sense of the just noticeable differences in the content of language, in the pace/energy of talk. Somehow I was reminded that small is not bad. Small can be powerful. Small over time makes a difference. What I could invite you to think about, is what’s the smallest change you could try to make, that would bring a noticeable impact for you?