little=big – leadership dots

leadership dot #5037: curating

August 26, 2026August 25, 2026by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I am teaching a class that is new to me. I was given a previous syllabus and a textbook, but no materials or guidance on what will be covered in the multiple class sessions.

So, I have been gathering relevant content for the past several weeks. Some came from the text; other exercises or content came from previous classes, another book, a friend in the Peace Corps, work with the school district, Harvard’s newsletter, a creativity game, and even the students’ own papers. Gathered as a whole, I believe it will provide a meaningful experience for the wide range of students taking the course.

But I never could have assembled this material all at once. It was amassed through a process of incubation, curation, research, and organization that occurred over time.

Too often, people are paralyzed by the magnitude or scope of a big project and procrastinate on starting it, when the best (only?) thing to do is begin. Thinking about it is a step in the right direction as ideas can develop, but acting on the project piece by piece usually yields a better outcome than a rushed job near the deadline.

Don’t underestimate the power of slow but steady curation. You can assemble the puzzle if you have collected enough of the pieces.

leadership dot #5028: this

August 13, 2026August 12, 2026by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Consistency is a key element of establishing both your personal and professional reputation.

If you want to be known as someone who is on top of things, you not only meet the report deadline, but you also show up on time for the parent-teacher conference. Those trying to be seen as innovative provide creative suggestions in a meeting and also experiment with fashion choices. The little things integrate to form a holistic picture of your “brand.”

A big fail in this department is the sign (below) in a fine jewelry store. Instead of being consistently high-end and image-conscious, this store negated that impression with a handwritten sign on a piece of bent cardboard. I’ve seen flea markets that give more attention to their signs.

If you send signals that you are “this” or “that,” the overriding takeaway is that you are the least desirable trait. To earn a solid reputation, you need to be “this” consistently.

Thanks, Meg!

leadership dot #4999: touch me

July 5, 2026July 4, 2026by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

This donkey at the entrance to the Detroit Museum of Art is the only piece of art that patrons are allowed to touch. It was purchased specifically as a demonstration piece to show people what happens with repeated touching — the black grooves and nuanced texture have disappeared from the spot where hundreds of people have rubbed.

The donkey is much more effective than any signs could be. It is “proof” that little touches do add up to cause irreparable damage to art, and will hopefully discourage visitors from giving in to the temptation to feel pieces in the museum.

Instead of signs that often go unread, how can you make your point in 3-D?

leadership dot #4970: panning

June 5, 2026June 4, 2026by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

When you have a goal, of course, you are interested in reaching it as quickly as you can.

The problem comes in when you try to use a bulldozer instead of a pan to find your gold. Most outcomes are not achieved in monumental leaps but rather result from many small steps that accumulate. People don’t begin the process because the end goal seems overwhelming, or they quit too soon because the incremental steps don’t seem fast enough. Neither achieves good outcomes.

Design your strategy — and your mental preparedness — with interim goals that align with the panning process. If you find any nuggets of gold, consider it a win.

leadership dot #4950: appropriate

May 16, 2026May 15, 2026by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Certainly, technology has its place and has made many things easier, but there are times when low-tech is the best option. Such was the case with a simple page-a-day calendar that showed the date by which someone was eligible to purchase alcohol. It was the perfect format for a small business and accomplished the job without much expense or implementation issues.

Before you reach for a high-tech solution, consider whether other methods may serve your needs. Low-tech may be high-value.

leadership dot #4929: amplify

April 18, 2026April 17, 2026by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Ever wonder if anything good came from COVID? Well, here’s something that did.

During the pandemic, artist Hercule VanWolfwinkle drew some silly pet portraits and shared them with his mates on social media. It was designed to make them smile during a dark time, and he thought it would be the end of it.

But it wasn’t. Demonstrating the best of what social media can do, the drawings spread — and spread. He decided to accept donations for his drawings to support two charities that serve the homeless and their pets, setting an ambitious goal of 299 pounds. He has now raised 500,000 pounds from 30,000 donors and has received 80,000 portrait requests, all from “rubbish” drawings he shared just to bring a laugh to some friends.

Never underestimate the difference one person can make. Social media can amplify the good as well as the bad and help people turn “a jokey comment” into a major fundraising effort. What can you do with it?

Screenshot from Pet Portraits by Hercule

leadership dot #4925: outcome

April 14, 2026by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, and it brought back memories of my visit to the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. It’s one of the most powerful and moving places I’ve visited, as it makes the horrors of the events feel as real as possible. I specifically remember a huge pile of shoes, each representing a person who lost their lives in the atrocities.

When people think about the Holocaust, many think of the gas chambers. Certainly, they were the culmination, but the annihilation did not start there. According to the World Jewish Congress, the Holocaust began with exclusion, indifference, and silence.

It’s that way with everything, both good and bad: we remember the final outcome and tend to forget all the little steps that led us there. All the decisions, actions, and inactions, those who spoke up and those voices that remained quiet. Every result is the culmination of a series of events that influence where things end up.

Commit to contributing early in the process rather than hoping someone else will represent your views or steer things in a favorable direction. It’s up to you to make a difference before the outcome is inevitable.

leadership dot #4910: adds up

March 29, 2026March 26, 2026by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

If you need proof that little things can add up to make a big impact, look no further than the US Postal Service’s semipostal stamps. Four designs carry a 12-cent surcharge, with the additional revenue dedicated to the causes the stamps support. Since their inception in 1998, the stamps have raised $112 million for research and preservation.

Semipostal stamps include Breast Cancer Research (1.1 billion stamps sold!), Save the Vanishing Species, Healing PTSD, and Alzheimer’s Research. People don’t seem to mind paying the surcharge, and enough people have done it to make a significant contribution to the associated causes.

The same principle applies to the “rounding up” of purchases at the register or to donation boxes for customers to toss in their spare change. People don’t mind paying a few additional cents, but the volume adds up to a meaningful amount.

Instead of thinking big, if you can involve enough transactions, maybe your best path is to think small.

leadership dot #3463a: drive

December 22, 2025December 19, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I watched as the FedEx truck snaked its way up my street — driving the length of one house and stopping, driving past a few more and stopping, and repeating the pattern most of the block.

At first, it seemed silly that the delivery person would bother to drive such small distances, but soon I realized that she had covered the half-mile, and had she walked it would have been arduous to carry packages that far — and time-consuming to walk back to her starting point.

Much of what we do in life is like that FedEx driver. We think that we’re just taking small steps and that they don’t/won’t amount to much, but in the end, it’s how all the goals are achieved. Instead of becoming overwhelmed by the length of your journey, deliver one package to one house, and drive a bit more up the street. One task at a time.

Originally published in modified form on December 8, 2021

leadership dot #4762: settlement

October 16, 2025October 15, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I was part of a class action settlement involving the Park Mobile app. My portion of the payout: 25 cents.

Most of the work to provide my settlement was undoubtedly done electronically — import the users, pro-rate their expenditures vs. total fine, email me with the results, payout through a credit on the app and not cash — but multiply that by thousands of users and it still had cost and effort involved.

Whether it be from a refund, settlement, rebate, or return, it seems to be a waste of resources to process out these small amounts. Would anyone be upset if there was a policy that small amounts were paid to one charity or foundation instead of to the individual? It means nothing to me, yet 25 cents multiplied by thousands could have an impact.

Maybe there can’t be a universal standard or one beneficiary that would appease most, but if you deal in such transactions, perhaps you can create a practice that works for your organization. Any unclaimed found items are donated after X days. Any refunds under $X amount are not paid out. Any amounts due under $X are forgiven. Let’s put our energy into the big stuff instead.