Celebrate Effort & Small Wins

A novice monk was tasked with copying the ancient holy books by hand. Observing that the other monks were copying from copies rather than the original texts, he raised his concern to the head monk: “What if there’s an error in one of the copies? It would be replicated endlessly.”

The head monk, stroking his beard thoughtfully, replied, “We’ve been doing it this way for centuries, but you make a good point, my son.”

Determined to investigate, he ventured into the cellar, one of the copies in hand, to compare it against the original scripture. Hours passed, and the head monk hadn’t returned.

Worried, the young monk went down to check on him, only to find the old monk sobbing uncontrollably over the original manuscript. “Why are you crying, Father?” the young monk asked, concerned. The head monk looked up, tears streaming down his face, and exclaimed, (Scroll down...)

“It says ‘Thou shalt celebrate!’ NOT ‘Thou shalt celibate!’

The problems with the traditional way of celebrating employees' achievements are:

?? Infrequent: For many companies, they are like rare treats, typically reserved for annual sales kickoffs, year-end events, or festive occasions.

?? Exclusivity Trap: They tend to be as selective as a VIP list, reserving recognition for a selected few top performers.

?? Solo Spotlight: Celebrations often focus on individual achievement, turning a team victory into a one-person show. This ignores the collaborative effort and shared success of the team.

?? Trophy, Not Journey: The recognition part of the celebration often becomes transactional, focusing almost solely on the final achievement. It often fails to acknowledge the "blood, sweat, and tears," the hard work and dedication that paved the way for success.

Dr. Carol S. Dweck of Stanford University, in her seminal book "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success," emphasizes the importance of praising effort. Her research found that those praised for effort are 92% more likely to take on more challenging tasks, fostering a growth mindset that values learning and persistence over innate talent.

Celebrating small wins expedites big wins" ~ Avi Liran?

7 Reasons to Celebrate Small Wins & Effort:

“Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.”?~?Nelson Mandela

1. Acknowledgement: People work hard. If we wait a year every time to acknowledge their efforts, we will miss many opportunities to make your team feel valued. The act of recognition simply means affirming their efforts. They feel noticed. They feel confirmed and experience an emotional uplift.
2. Builds Confidence, Motivate & energise: Big targets can be overwhelming and often perceived as unattainable. Some people become disheartened with doubt if they could even deliver these formidable expectations. Breaking a project into small wins reduces the fear of the big goals. It heightens our confidence in our own capabilities, proving to ourselves that we are able to achieve much more than we thought we could. With everybody realising their true capabilities, efficiency will take off and the team, as a whole, will be able to reach higher. Celebrating your winnings is addictive – everyone likes this feeling. Thus, celebrations are motivating.
3. Feedback: By celebrating small wins on the path to a bigger and a well-defined goal, your team receives valuable affirmation and feedback at every step, which pushes them towards the goal better. It gives you the opportunity to reinforce what works, which can then be replicated and developed at each step. With this, a delay of a planned celebration of hitting a small target indicates that a better strategy should be adopted to keep the team on track to the next celebration.?
4. Greater camaraderie: They say (especially in Asia), "Teams that eat together, win together." Celebrating small wins often offers an opportunity for team bonding which is extremely meaningful and important when working as a team. In competitive sports, celebrating the wins together and avoiding "mourning" over failures creates a culture of support. Undoubtedly, teams with positive relationships outperform teams with bad relationships. Celebrating small wins put you on the track of positivity, taking power away from the negativity of cynics, gossip, and backstabbers. But remember: this does not mean that you do not need to listen to feedback. Just focus on the energy that radiates from a positive collaborate towards an end goal.
5. Increase retention: Appreciation can be felt by employees when celebrating a small win. When they understand the value of their work, a sense of pride follows. Thus, increasing their sense of belonging to your brand.
6. Having fun: As Oscar Wilde said, "To live is the rarest thing in the world, most people exist that is all." We spend most of our daylight hours at work. Not having fun is existing, not living. Celebrating breathes life into the organization, increasing employee's happiness. It also affects your employer brand, and more importantly, your team members go home rejuvenated and happier.
7. Inclusion and diversity: Celebrations are great at promoting inclusion and diversity. It includes the entire team, sending the message that everyone has a role to play in this win, regardless of your position, gender, race, faith, and preferences.

If you want something to grow, don't forget to pour champagne on it.

Never underestimate the importance of celebrating – this is something we hold to be true at Virgin. We know the power that public and private praise and parties have to raise moral and reinforce positive behaviour. Plus, life’s more fun when you stop to appreciate both the big and small moments and milestones. ~ Richard Branson

Your personal celebration at work:

If you are celebrating an anniversary at work, is it a happy occasion for you? Do you love your work and the workplace? Are you in a "state of flow" as Dr.?Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote in his book? Take a look at the flow diagram. Where are you on it? Aside from happy work culture, there is a great correlation between happiness at work and state of flow. And if you are?reaching?mastery, what is next for you? The most common answer I hear from?successful leaders sounds like:?"My job now is to mentor and develop my team members to be the best that they be"?

(I?am often asked: "How can I celebrate meaningfully and be happy at work if I am working in a toxic workplace?" Please visit my earlier post: Vampires Zombies & JCLs)

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”?~??Oprah Winfrey

How to never forget your wedding anniversary?

An excellent example of celebrating small wins in your personal life was taught to me by my good friend Maria Lourdes Ann Cruz, a CHRO of a multinational company in Southeast Asia. She and her husband Benneth (Benito), celebrate "Monthery" (monthly anniversary) on top of the annual one. From the beginning of their relationship, they had made a commitment, no matter what to put celebrate their relationship for life. To put it on the calendar. They multiply 12 times the joy of celebrating their togetherness. While being devoted parents and dedicated kids, working full time in demanding jobs, they always find the time to live life and not only exist. They devote time to appreciating each other. I just wonder how they keep fit with all these rich cakes and if they had negotiated a discount from the cake shop.

Despite the well-documented benefits of celebrating small wins and effort, many companies still do not invest in this practice. Here are some reasons why:

Is your organization also missing out on key celebrations because of a bad habit that was passed down? Many times there is a deep-rooted misconception in our mindsets that celebration is bad, and work should be serious. It is time to change that.

In fact, organizations that have a culture of celebrating happy occasions, progress, and achievements, see a higher success rate than those in the same industry that skip this vital human need.

Possible conclusions:

1. Does it make sense to add mini milestones and celebrate progress in your work environment??
2. What if you set one target for yourself every day, the one thing that is super important for you to achieve? Can you celebrate that?
3. If you are not having fun, it is time to check your original plan and adjust your course.
4. If you chose to stay at your workplace today in a work that you don't really like, what can you do there today to make a small win and celebrate it??

........And when it comes to competition, don't celebrate too soon. Don't rest on your laurels before you pass the finish line. Wait until the deal is signed and the advance payment is in the bank before you open the bottles of champagne:cott Friedman. In this book, Scott shares his GPS model and 365 ideas for celebration at your workplace.

My other blog posts:

• Celebrate SMALL Wins?
• Voice Of A Champion - Best Practices In Listening To Your Employees
• Vampires, Zombies & JCL's?
• It Is NOT the End - Use Humor
• Really??? Are All The 10 Happiest Countries in Latin America?
• Be the Winning Horse - A Story Of Asian Positive Leader
• How To Manage A Toxic Leader? Tips from an Asian Leader
• HOW TO CHASE YOUR CUSTOMERS AWAY
• 60 Seconds of Fun @ Work
• Get Mad! But Smell the Flower, and Replace “!” with “?”
• The Laughter Gap - Overcoming The Law of Repulsion
• Deal With It!
• It's Your Response-Damn-Ability!

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Working globally from Singapore,?TEDx (IDEASx) global speaker?Avi Liran?(Economist, MBA and basketball coach) is the Chief Delighting Officer of?www.deliveringdelight.com. He is is the originator of the creative, inspiring and entertaining keynote talks and edutainment programs?Delivering Delight, helping organizations worldwide to tap into their Inner Delight to?Lead With Values?and Purpose so they effectively cultivate a Delightful Organisational Culture (DOC) that nurtures Delightful Employee Experience (DEX) which empowers Delightful Customer Experience (DCX).