One red paper clip and the Grand Canyon
Incremental changes + time can yield massive results
Have you heard about the guy who traded a paper clip for a house?
In a series of trades over a year, Kyle MacDonald bartered his way from one red paper clip to a two-story house in Saskatchewan. Demi Skipper set out to recreate his quest in May 2020, successfully trading up from a bobby pin to a Tennessee house over a year and a half.
Neither one immediately leapt to their end goal; it took time and a series of smaller steps (14 trades for MacDonald, 28 for Skipper) for them to achieve what they set out to do.
This is the power of incremental change, and it offers a helpful perspective on how we can transform work culture. Often, we think about change happening through breakthrough moments, such as shattering the glass ceiling. We look at trailblazers and innovators and may think there’s no role for us to make a difference simply by going about our everyday lives.
And yet, when we dig deeper, we see incremental change showing up in all kinds of places:
In public policy: the authors of Gradual contend incrementalism should be the default setting for effectively making sweeping changes.
In business: Microsoft changed a few lines of code and created one of the best ways they have ever driven user engagement.
As children learn and grow: as any parent knows, this seems to happen slowly and also in a heartbeat, as powerfully captured in this audio timelapse of a girl from babyhood through her early teens.
Carving our Grand Canyon
The career river is more than an individual framework for approaching our professional lives. It also embraces the collective power we have as professionals to change our culture’s expectations for professional success — over time, together.
Think of the Grand Canyon. Every particle of water that traveled through the river played a role in carving out the stunning landscape. Individually it was not much, but combined, with enough time, it forever altered the world.
In my own career, I’ve seen how standing up for our authentic selves can change the professional ecosystem over time. For me, that meant being out as a lesbian even when that shut me out of short-term opportunities. Early in my work as a journalist, I was banned by a newsroom from participating in LGBTQ+ coverage in the name of objectivity. In an interview around that same time, the president of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association described having to sign moral contracts when she started out, running the risk of being fired from newsrooms for being gay.
All queer journalists could do was keep showing up, as best we could, to demonstrate that our identity was not a liability in the newsroom but a valuable perspective. Sometimes, to be sure, people have needed to stay in the closet due to high risks. But over time, the balance shifted due to small, everyday acts of authenticity. When I told the story of my ban at a recent gathering of women journalists, the shocked responses in the room showed how far we’d come. Is our work done? No. But are things better today for journalists like me? Yes.
I’ve seen this approach pay off personally, too. My wife comes from a religious family, and they had strong objections when she came out. But we kept showing up, politely, as part of the family, and over time their views shifted. This was most obvious to me on the day I opened the family newsletter from my wife’s uncle, a Jesuit priest. He had included a family tree, and there we were on the bottom line, the simple “married” listed just the same as everyone else.
Change does not always come as a thunderbolt or page-leading headline. Sometimes change arrives quietly in your mailbox. Our work and our lives are part of a larger story. We can choose how we show up to carve a new path and create a more beautiful landscape.
Happy navigating,
Bridget
✉️ Reader mail
I wanted to share this reader letter (with permission!) from last week's post on the 'broken rung' - appreciate the feedback and context, thank you!
I had to read this article twice: once as a female employee and again as an HR executive who is privy to the conversations that occur behind the scenes.
The first time around, you had me right there with you. I agreed with everything you said, women should take a more proactive approach, we should insist on being part of the solution.
The second read through, as an HR exec, was more challenging and I jotted down some thoughts:
Promotion policies: I would be surprised to find that many companies have formal promotion policies (and followed them if they did). I've worked for companies that have the best of intentions, but somehow, exceptions always happen. This is also the reason many companies don't have defined policies, because then they can't be used against them.
Get it in writing: I have personally encouraged people to ask their managers how they can get to that next step in their career. I've also had these conversations with people who report to me. However, managers are coached to be cautious with their teams and never promise a promotion or put something in writing that can be used against the company. You end up with managers who are trying to develop their teams, but feel like their hands are tied because of budgets, their bosses, or the need to protect the company. It creates a clash between wanting to help someone grow but doing it in a way that doesn't upset the company that pays you.
What's the rationale: As for asking about the rationale for promotions, yes, please always ask. However, people should prepare themselves to hear negative things about themselves. Remember, people are passed up for promotions because they aren't ready or right for the position. It's not always because of your age, sex/gender, or belief system. I've seen more and more early in career individuals who strive for the big titles and pay, but don't have enough work experience to make decisions at that level within an organization. So, when they don't get the promotion, they get upset and leave. I also see this with people who might be great technically, but don't have the soft skills to lead a team. Unfortunately, many managers aren't capable of having a realistic/candid conversation with their employee about strengths and weaknesses, which leads to confusion about expectations, performance, and their career.
I’d encourage people to advocate for themselves when it comes to promotions, and also be aware of the reasons managers may not always be as transparent as we’d like.