Big wins start small

In 2014, William H. McRaven gave a speech that resonated globally. His message was as simple as it was challenging: “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”

Not a household tip. A leadership principle.

Don't start with a heroic vision, but with a concrete action. Something small that you complete. Something within your control.

Making your bed in the morning completes the first task of the day. A small success. An initial demonstration of discipline. A signal to yourself: I am in control of my day.

The core message is even sharper: whoever doesn't do the small things well will rarely do the big things well. Strategy rarely founders on ambition. It founders on daily execution. And execution requires rhythm. Discipline. Clear, sequential steps.

In organizations, I often see the same pattern. Big ideas. Fine words. Ambitious goals.

But little guidance in the present. No consistent rhythm of follow-up. No visible progress. Just frustration.

Then ambition becomes mere scenery. A play with an impressive script, but without actors who understand their roles.

McRaven also spoke about adversity. About days when you end up like a 'sugar cookie': wet, cold, and covered in sand. Life isn't fair. You will fail. You will be tested.

The difference isn't in avoiding those days, but in what you do with them. Do you keep going in circles? Or do you move, learning as you go, in a line from A to B?

Making strategic plans work means continuing to steer when things get tough. Adjusting when results are disappointing. Not giving up in the face of resistance. No drama as an excuse to return to the daily grind. Just keep going.

Where there's a will, there's a way. If the will is absent, excuses will naturally follow.

Small wins are not a minor detail. They are strategy.

Look at what Sir Dave Brailsford did with British cycling. No grand revolution, but marginal gains: 1% improvement in hundreds of areas. Saddle. Sleep. Nutrition. Hand hygiene. Everything counted.

1% better every day. That compounds.

Organizational psychologist Karl E. Weick demonstrated as early as 1984 that large, amorphous problems have a paralyzing effect. Make them smaller. Define concrete, achievable steps. Small victories build energy for the next step. 

And research by Teresa Amabile, published in the Harvard Business Review, confirms the same mechanism: progress is the engine of motivation. Not the other way around.

People don't get motivated first and then make progress. They make progress and become motivated as a result. Progress is not a byproduct. It is fuel.

What does this mean for you as a leader?

In a time of transitions, digitalization, and scarcity, change is inevitable. Transforming is the choice. Start small with +1%.

Where to start? Look at your plan and goals and ask the right questions:

• Which agreement will we finalize precisely?
• Which specific KPI will we actively manage?
• Which dependency will we resolve this week?
• Which review will we actually conduct, instead of just talking about it?

Discipline over intention. Rhythm over ad hoc acceleration. Progress over perfection.

Anyone who makes their bed every day builds character. Anyone who stacks small strategic victories every week builds momentum.

And momentum almost always wins over good intentions.

So if your team is about to lose sight of the big picture, don't ask how to solve everything at once.

Ask the question that matters:

What is our 1% today?

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