I came home last night to what looked like a brown magazine blowing in my driveway. In reality, it was a colony of ants -- a billion of them by conservative estimate -- all feverishly working together toward some unknown common purpose. I was creeped out and I promptly set about extinguishing them all.
I had seen ants around, but did not pay attention to them. I didn't even act on the ant hill I found when weeding. After all, ants are harmless little things and not worthy of action.
But any little thing can turn into a big thing if there are enough of them. Organizational cultures are taken down not by elephants, but ants. Leaders do not meet their demise because of one big thing, rather it is more likely to be a series of small actions that add up to a problem. Enough little things start to accumulate and it feels like the earth is moving, even if it's not.
Pay attention to the small comments, the seemingly insignificant decisions, the shift in policy, the unanswered questions, the shutting of doors and wiggle words that appear in conversations -- they are sure signs that the ants are mobilizing to crash your picnic.
-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
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