In their new book, The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, authors Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer talk about what motivates employees. In a Harvard Business School article, Carmen Nobel uses their book to talk about small wins versus major breakthroughs:
But fortunately, seemingly minor victories turned out to be nearly as effective as major breakthroughs when it came to enhancing employees’ inner work lives and, therefore, inducing their passion and creativity. The book refers to these as “small wins.”
“We found that 28 percent of small events of all kinds had a major impact on inner work life,” Amabile says. “This is good news! Big breakthroughs at work are really rare. But small wins are something people can experience pretty regularly if the work is chunked down to manageable pieces. This suggests that you really do have to sweat the small stuff.”