How to Make Small Wins Big and Big Problems Small

Published on: 19th April 2021

Written By:

Darren has been working in the world of UK Supermarkets & Suppliers for over 30 years. Plus, learning, training and coaching. He began his career as a buyer at big 4 UK supermarket and after 13 years he decided to leave to set-up Making Business Matter (MBM) because he wanted to help suppliers & supermarkets to work better together, and to help people to be the very best version of themselves. Connect with Darren on Linkedin.

Business Will Provide Wins and Challenges Everyday…

‘Making Small Wins Big and Big Problems Small’ is a Skill Like Any Other. To be identified for its benefits, nurtured for the value it can add, and practiced for the help it can provide. Each day in business wins and problems will come across your desk.

Your challenge is to make the most of the wins and the least of the problems. Because if you were to employ your own PR agency working for then you’d expect this, at the very least.

Making Small Wins Big

Getting the very most of the wins that you have achieved is essential to your own PR. The big wins will almost certainly take care of themselves, though I’m sure you’ll help them along! The small wins need a helping hand. A little like my golf coach telling me of his constant astonishment at all the amateur golfers he sees practicing at the golf range with their big drivers, practicing their ‘big swing’.

He says, ‘That’s just for ego. Most of them don’t realise that the biggest gains they can make are in the number of shots they spend in the short game. Practicing with the irons is the secret, not the drivers’. Small wins and big wins are similar. The trick is in making the most of the small wins because that’s where you’ll make the biggest gains.

Three Ways to Help You Make the Most of Your Small Wins are:

Ask your line manager if you can present ‘Best Practise’ at the team meeting, manager’s meeting, end of year, etc. – You get the idea.
Publish a case study about the win. Sharing what went well, what could have gone better, and any future recommendations.
In your 121 meeting with your line manager share the small win and ask for advice on how to get the most from this win, for the team. As a good friend of mine, Simon Spence, says, ‘Make an Oxo cube into a tea chest’. Meaning to make something much larger through PR.

Many oxo cubes laid out on the table — The art of making something larger through PR is an important skill – like making an Oxo cube into a tea chest

Making Big Problems Small

As important as making the small wins big is making the big problems small. Politicians are well versed in this particular skill. You need to be also if you are to be an effective PR agency for yourself. Big problems will arise because you are a motivated individual looking to get ahead. The nature of the beast suggests that you are going to take more risks than the average.

Here are Three ‘Get out of Jail Free’ Cards That Will Help:

Share the potential problem before it lands. Because no one likes surprises and you can get advice on how to deal with the problem. Thus sharing the accountability.
Admit the problem, don’t hide from it, and be the first to recognise the issue, offer a solution, and suggest how it can be avoided in the future.
Focus on the positives from the problem, like what you and the business have learned and the potential risk if the problem had not been discovered. Again, Simon’s advice is very useful, ‘Make a tea chest into an Oxo cube’.

‘Making small wins big and making big problems small’ is a skill like any other. To be identified for its benefits, nurtured for the value it can add, and practiced for the help it can provide. Please remember the power of the tea chest and the Oxo cube when you employ your own PR agency, you.