{"id":8822,"date":"2020-10-12T13:03:38","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T12:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/singapore\/news\/2020\/oct\/why-a-little-means-a-lot\/"},"modified":"2020-10-12T13:03:38","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T12:03:38","slug":"why-a-little-means-a-lot","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/singapore\/news\/2020\/oct\/why-a-little-means-a-lot","title":{"rendered":"Why a little means a lot"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"lazyblock-text-full-width-rV9Rl wp-block-lazyblock-text-full-width\"><section class=\"fullwidth text-center\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n  <div class=\"container\">\n    \n          <h2 class=\"title\">For a long time I&#8217;ve been a believer in the 10% rule. It&#8217;s a simple theory based on the observation that so much in life is decided on the margins.<\/h2>\n    \n    u003cp style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eTake height. The average height for a man in the UK is five feet nine inches. Yet someone who is six foot three inches isn&#8217;t seen as a little bit above average (less than 10% above, in fact), they are seen as unusually tall. They will literally stand out in a crowd.u003c\/pu003enu003cp style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eThe point this illustrates is that height is as much a relative construct as it is absolute. We don&#8217;t view height from our toes, we view it from our eyeline. And from this relative perspective, the margins are considerably magnified.u003c\/pu003enu003cp id=u0022E168u0022 class=u0022qowt-stl-normal0u0022 style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eu003cspan id=u0022E169u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eThe importance of relative margins becou003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E169u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003emes heightened in competitive and performance contexts. Take the 2016 Olympic 100 metreu00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E169u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003efinals whichu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E169u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eu00a0Usain Bolt ran in 9.81 seconds. It was an emphatic win confirming, once again, that he was in an entirely different class from the rest of the field. Yet the diffu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E169u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eerence between him and Trayvon Bromell, who came eighth, wasn&#8217;t 10%. It wasn&#8217;t 5%. It was a quarter of a second, or 2.54%. Moreover, the difference between silver (Gatlin), bronze (de Grasse), fourth (Blake) and fifth (Simbine) was a meagre 0.05 seconds. Such is thu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E169u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003ee power of margins.u003c\/spanu003eu003c\/pu003enu003cp id=u0022E179u0022 class=u0022qowt-stl-normal0u0022 style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eu003cspan id=u0022E180u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eIn a performance context, fractional differences are the difference. Thus the meticulous study of marginal gains in elite sport. Often these gains come from seeing what other teams might miss. The marginal losses they are sustaining wu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E181u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eithout even realising it.u003c\/spanu003eu003c\/pu003enu003cp id=u0022E184u0022 class=u0022qowt-stl-normal0u0022 style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eu003cspan id=u0022E185u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eGiven how much of normal life we are having to forgo, (and the degree to which social restrictions are growing rather than diminishing), it is inevitable that the marginal losses we face as an industry will demand more and moru003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E185u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003ee of our attention. Particularly the marginal losses incurred by the rise and rise of remote communication, and the extent to which Google Meet (my go-to option), Zooms and Teams replicate something resembling a physical meeting.u003c\/spanu003eu003c\/pu003enu003cp id=u0022E189u0022 class=u0022qowt-stl-normal0u0022 style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eu003cspan id=u0022E190u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eMuch as we all relyu00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E190u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eon these platforms, and should credit them accordingly, part of the risk they pose is their very utility. We could begin to see them as a substitute for real meetings, as opposed to an alternative, and, in doing so, we could put ourselves at the start of a vu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E190u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eery slippery slope.u00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E190u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eBecause they are not a substitute.u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E190u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eu00a0They are only 90% a substitute. And you know what this means. We might be missing out on theu00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E190u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eall-importantu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E190u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eu00a010% that decides so much of what happens in our marginal world.u003c\/spanu003eu003c\/pu003enu003cp id=u0022E203u0022 class=u0022qowt-stl-normal0u0022 style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eu003cspan id=u0022E204u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eGrouped within that 10% woulu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E204u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003ed be many of the unquantifiableu00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E204u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003efactors, whichu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E204u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eu00a0are nevertheless pivotal to the success of a meeting, let alone the success of a relationship. Factors such as non-verbal communication, learning by osmosis, camaraderie, incentives to contribute, levels of eneu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E204u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003ergy and focus.u003c\/spanu003eu003c\/pu003enu003cp id=u0022E222u0022 class=u0022qowt-stl-normal0u0022 style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eu003cspan id=u0022E235u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003eEveryone will haveu00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E235u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003etheiru003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E235u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003eu00a0different answers to the marginal losses of remoteness. The first step is to develop coping mechanisms to help offset the surrogate nature, strain and repetitiveness of Zoombie culture. I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;ve allu00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E235u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003egot our workarounds, but to bolster your resources I can recommend a brilliant article fromu00a0u003cemu003eHarvard Business Reviewu003c\/emu003e,u00a0u003ca href=u0022https:\/\/hbr.org\/2020\/04\/how-to-combat-zoom-fatigueu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noopeneru0022u003eu003cemu003eHow to Combat Zoom Fatigueu003c\/emu003eu003c\/au003e, by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy.u00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E235u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003eWorth a read.u003c\/spanu003eu003c\/pu003enu003cp id=u0022E234u0022 class=u0022qowt-stl-normal0u0022 style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eu003cspan id=u0022E235u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003eSome of the losses caused by enforcedu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E236u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003eu00a0distance are more immediately apparent than others. The danger of WFH becoming LATO (living at the office) is something that we must allu00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E238u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003efightu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E240u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003eu00a0hard to avoid. But it is something that can be picked up on and addressed quite quickly if your company has a stu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E241u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003erong listening culture. Seldom has the confessional of au00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E243u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003egoodu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E245u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022 data-mce-mark=u00221u0022u003eu00a0staff survey been more important than it is right now.u003c\/spanu003eu003c\/pu003enu003cp id=u0022E248u0022 class=u0022qowt-stl-normal0u0022 style=u0022text-align: leftu0022u003eu003cspan id=u0022E249u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eWhat can be missed, even when an organisation has its ears wide open, are the more subtle and elusive aspects of human interaction. And tu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E249u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003ehe one I want to close with is good old-fashioned dissent. Very few people go into a Zoom call thinking: u0022I hope this goes on longer than necessary.u0022 The danger, then, is that our desire for a brisk, friction-free canter through the agenda can make us cutu00a0u003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E249u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eintellectual corners. In our eagerness not to hold things up we may acquiesce in accepting something that&#8217;s OK, rather than brilliant. We may suppress a doubt that should actually have been aired. We may decide not to cause difficulties, when difficulty isu003c\/spanu003eu003cspan id=u0022E249u0022 class=u0022qowt-font5-Arialu0022u003eu00a0precisely what&#8217;s required. After all, to be truly creative, you must first experience the nausea of incomprehension (according to Einstein).u003c\/spanu003eu003c\/pu003e\n  <\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"lazyblock-quote-full-width-1Rxihh wp-block-lazyblock-quote-full-width\">  <section class=\"fullwidth fullwidth--top-lg text-center\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n    <div class=\"container\">\n\n      <blockquote class=\"blockquote\">\n        So, we must fight the urge to be politely expedient. We must nurture our rebellious side, our disruptive instinct, the non-conformist in us. The group is often right. But anyone can think like a group. The breakthroughs tend to happen when someone realises the group is wrong. Even if it&#8217;s only 2.54% of the time, it can mean the difference between winning and losing. \n        <cite>Charles Vallance, Founder and Chairman, VCCP<\/cite>      <\/blockquote>\n\n    <\/div>\n  <\/section><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":22,"template":"","categories":[191],"class_list":["post-8822","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-agency-news"],"acf":{"author":"930","capability_ids":null,"client_id":null,"hero_video":null,"hero_image":"12029","meta-title":"","meta-description":"","social-media-image":null,"news_id":"191","related_content_title":"You may also like","relateditems":[""],"hide_related_items":null,"visible_on_home_page":["1"],"websites_to_publish":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/singapore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/8822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/singapore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/singapore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/singapore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/singapore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/singapore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}