How To Change The World

The trick may be to think smaller, rather than bigger.

In 2015 I sat down to write my new company’s mission, because that’s what the business books I was reading told me I must do.

“I don’t want to change the world,” I muttered to myself. “I want to pay my rent and go on some nice holidays.”

I struggled to come up with something inspiring that I could rally future employees around, some neat phrase that I could add to the “about us” section of the website.

It was performative, empty, and so generic I can’t even remember what it was.

I was even more confounded when trying to come up with a personal mission or purpose during my time in EO and other self-development activities. I’m not a cancer researcher or a wealthy philanthropist — what grounds do I have for thinking I’ll make some kind of lasting imprint on the world?

I usually managed to jot down something that felt reasonable to say out loud in the moment, but painfully lame soon after.

I moved along thinking that this is all fine. Not everyone can change the world! If you have a powerful mission in life, more power to you! For me, I could just be content being a capitalist trying to enjoy my own life.

A switch flicked for me this year though. I realized that its not about changing the world at large. Its about changing someone’s world.

Photo by Maël BALLAND on Unsplash

It started with David

David (not his real name) sent me a message on Slack after I announced I’d be leaving the company.

“I just wanted to write you and tell you even though we don't have a lot of face time, I'm truly going to miss you!

I'm not good at putting it into words, but I found Bobsled at a very vulnerable time in my life. I came in and Bobsled accepted me for the skills that I had at the time and helped me grow and develop and get to where I am today, and continue to grow.

And no matter where I end up, Bobsled will always hold a very special place in my heart. So thank you.”

This was incredible. I had actually changed someone’s world, without even being deliberate about it — just by being reasonably ambitious with the company and trying to make it a nice place to work.

I realized this wasn’t the first time I heard this.

Many other people at the company had come from wildly unrelated backgrounds. People looking for a career change, a step up, the type of decent job that didn’t exist in their local town.

I had created something that actually changed their world.

More conversations came to me. It meant something to other people that there are females like me out in the world doing hard things. It made them believe bigger things were possible for themselves, for their daughters.

I remembered a female leader from my early professional life who made a big impact on me. She was smart and ambitious, but also kind and maternal. She rocked a skirt suit. I wanted to be just like her.

I realized was not going to single-handedly bring wage equality to all women, but I could be one face that gives some people confidence in who they are and who they can become.

Ideas for changing the world

Here are some things I’m doing that are changing someone’s world.

I’m sharing not because I want to be applauded. In fact, you may consider many things on this list to seem rather inconsequential.

But since I always struggled to identify this for myself, I want to share these as ideas to help spark your own.

1. Being a den leader in my son’s Cub Scouts pack.

   We have not just changed, but created, an entire world for these little kids. Because of us, they are learning practical skills, citizenship, and developing a love of the outdoors. This is one of the most fulfilling and obvious world-changers for me. And compared to the other things on this list, it’s so damn easy.
   

2. Being a good friend.
   Checking in with people, asking questions, making time. Everyone wants to be heard and valued and loved. I’m not the best at this but I’m trying.
   

3. Trying to be a good boss.
   Facilitating someone’s professional and personal development is one of the most significant ways you can impact lives. Clayton Christiansen called management one of the noblest professions for this reason.
   
   I am far from a great manager, and I deeply admire people who are. It is an endless journey and very challenging. But a good boss legitimately changes the lives of every person who reports to them.
   

4. Creating or stewarding a great company culture.
   Beyond being good for business, organizations with great cultures just feel better working at, right? Even if you’re not a boss or you didn’t establish your company’s culture, you can feed it with your actions. If you want your 40 work hours every week to be more fulfilling and enjoyable for yourself and the people around you, reinforcing a great culture is effort well spent.
   
   This is one of the things that I’m proudest of from my time as a founder. Many new hires were blown away by the culture of generosity and teamwork. They felt at home, and able to do their best work. People stuck around because of the culture, despite having better financial prospects elsewhere. And for the people who left, they now knew what a great culture looked like and hopefully germinated something similar at other companies.
   

5. Sharing my gifts.
   All those painful life and business lessons I’ve learned, all that research I’ve done, all that time spent practicing — I can and should share this with people who care. I devoured so much content trying to learn how to be a better entrepreneur, leader, mother, and human. I don’t know everything, but it’s my turn to pay it back. I’m doing this through my content here and mentoring.
   
   

Think small.

Looking back, I realize I had tried too hard to “think big.”

I had been devouring management books like ‘Traction’ which espouse the benefits of choosing a ‘big hairy audacious goal’ or (BHAG): a clear and compelling target that an organization tries to reach.

I hear BHAGs like Microsoft’s "A computer on every desk and in every home," and I think, well that really is compelling.

The issue for me was that I wasn’t on the path to become a multinational company. I didn’t have investors expecting me to go big or go home. My company was never on that trajectory.

Rather than coming up with a bogus company mission just so it can be ‘big and hairy’ enough, I wish I had leaned into ideas that I knew to be true, but just seemed too small by comparison: that good culture matters. That we’re on our customers’ side. That you can learn best by teaching.

Now I understand that these ideas are not small at all. Changing one person’s world —or world view — creates a butterfly effect. Someone who has a great manager that changes their life now aspires to be a great manager themselves. Someone who experiences a great work culture goes on to develop or repair a great culture somewhere else. That great friend I have inspires me to be a better friend to five more people.

Those cub scouts who now love the outdoors…. well, I can’t let them off the hook that easily. They really do need to save the world.