Great Work

Great Work Plot Summary

Introduction

When Skip Hults arrived in the tiny town of Newcomb, New York as the new superintendent of the local school, he faced a daunting reality. The school's student population had been steadily shrinking for decades, following the decline of local logging and mining industries. With just 55 students across all 13 grades, the school seemed destined to close, which would strip the community of its identity. Most superintendents might have accepted this inevitable fate, focusing instead on administrative duties and academic excellence. But Skip saw something invisible to others: an opportunity to make a difference. What Skip did next transformed not just the school but the entire community. By bringing international students to this remote Adirondack town, he created a program that addressed both declining enrollment and lack of diversity. Soon, students from 25 different nations were studying alongside local children, bringing global perspectives to this small American town. This remarkable turnaround demonstrates the heart of what making a difference is all about - seeing possibilities where others see problems, taking initiative beyond job descriptions, and creating solutions that people love. Throughout these pages, we'll explore how ordinary individuals across various professions and industries find creative ways to transform good work into great work that makes a meaningful difference in the lives of others.

Chapter 1: Reframing Your Role: Becoming a Difference Maker

In the spring of 1986, a young man named Ed landed his first grown-up job selling airtime for a local AM radio station. His colleagues jokingly congratulated him on his "step down" from janitor to sales. With no client list except a phone book, Ed spent sweltering summer days driving around in his red 1962 VW Beetle with broken windows and the heater stuck on high, pitching local businesses on radio advertising. For months, he landed only small accounts while watching senior sales reps coast on established client relationships. Everything changed when Ed attended a sales seminar where he heard a story about a creative radio rep who helped a video store owner move locations by running a promotion: customers could pick up free videos at the old store and return them to the new one. This ingenious campaign eliminated moving costs, advertised the new location, and built customer loyalty. The story sparked something in Ed - he began to see himself not as a lowly radio sales rep, but as a marketing consultant who could provide real solutions. With this reframed perspective, Ed looked beyond cold-calling and began focusing on untapped markets. He discovered that food brokers had substantial advertising budgets but avoided radio because they believed it couldn't deliver measurable results like print coupons could. Ed joined the food brokers association, built relationships, and developed innovative radio campaigns that complemented print advertising rather than competing with it. He stopped thinking in terms of making sales and started thinking about making a difference for these businesses. Within three years, Ed had transformed from a novice with just a phone book to the station's number one sales rep, outperforming veterans with established client lists. By shifting his mindset from seeing himself as a worker with assignments to crank out to seeing himself as someone with valuable differences to make, Ed completely transformed his role and his results. This shift in self-perception is what researchers call "reframing," and it's the first key step in making a difference. University of Michigan professor Jane Dutton and Yale colleague Amy Wrzesniewski discovered this phenomenon while studying hospital janitors. They found that certain janitors didn't see themselves as part of the cleaning staff at all, but rather as integral members of the healing team. These individuals would get to know patients and families, offering support through small but meaningful gestures. They had expanded their job descriptions to suit their desire to make a difference. The story of reframing reminds us that how we see ourselves fundamentally shapes what we accomplish. The role of a difference maker isn't reserved for executives or specialists - it's available to anyone willing to look beyond their formal job description and ask: "How might my unique perspective and abilities create value that others would love?"

Chapter 2: Ask the Right Question: Discovering What People Love

Albert Einstein once remarked that if he had an hour to solve a life-or-death problem, he'd spend 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask. In our extensive study of award-winning work, we discovered a similar pattern among difference makers: before diving into tasks, they pause to ask what people would truly love. Rob, a manager at an insurance company call center, faced significant challenges processing 4,500 car accident claims each month. Unresolved claims were piling up, employee morale was suffering, and customer satisfaction was faltering. Instead of just pushing his team to work harder under the existing system, Rob asked a more meaningful question: "How can we create a better experience that delivers peace of mind to our customers and gets them back to where they were before their accident as quickly as possible?" One morning during his commute, Rob heard a radio interview with a cartographer who mentioned the Latin phrase "terra incognita" - unknown land. This concept resonated deeply with Rob, helping him realize that the solutions to his department's problems lay in unexplored territory. "We didn't know what we didn't know," he explained. "Our stumbling blocks were familiar territory. The solutions were unknown land." This willingness to pause and question the status quo is what separates good work from great work. Our research showed that in 88 out of 100 cases where someone was delighted by the final result, the creators had taken time to consider what people might love before acting. This pause isn't about procrastination - it's about taking a moment to imagine possibilities beyond the obvious. Sometimes these questions come from unexpected sources. Edwin Land, inventor of the Polaroid camera, found his inspiration when his three-year-old daughter asked, "Why can't I see my picture right now?" after he had taken a photo of her. Instead of dismissing her question as naive, Land recognized it as profoundly insightful. That moment of curiosity led to the development of instant photography, revolutionizing how we capture memories. The questioning process doesn't need to be complicated. It can be as simple as wondering what might be broken, what we're uniquely qualified to improve, or what unusual connections we might make. Jonah and his friends discovered this when a casual joke about selling mismatched socks led to a successful business called LittleMissMatched. By simply allowing himself to wonder "what if?" rather than dismissing the idea as silly, Jonah created a brand that celebrates individuality and self-expression for young girls. When we pause to ask what difference would be loved rather than just completing tasks, we open ourselves to possibilities we might otherwise miss. The questions we ask shape the answers we find and ultimately determine whether our work merely meets expectations or truly delights those it serves.

Chapter 3: See for Yourself: Finding New Possibilities

It's amazing how many different ways people find to make a difference by looking at their work with fresh eyes. Difference makers don't rely solely on reports, assumptions, or secondhand information - they go see for themselves, using personal observation to discover opportunities that others miss. When a team at design firm IDEO was tasked with reinventing the baby stroller for Evenflo, they could have stayed in their office studying market research. Instead, they went to parks and shopping malls with cameras to observe parents using strollers in real life. They looked intently at every aspect of the stroller experience: parents struggling to get strollers over sidewalk cracks, mothers leaning over to tend to children, fathers juggling grocery bags and coffee cups while pushing the stroller. The team took hundreds of photos and videos, covering the walls of their workspace with observations and insights. This intense process of seeing for themselves led to breakthrough innovations: bigger wheels to handle rough terrain, a higher seat to reduce parent back strain, one-handed folding mechanisms for parents holding babies, additional storage space underneath, and integrated play areas for children. Each observation directly inspired an improvement that users would love. In a completely different field, Eiji Nakatsu faced the challenge of reducing noise from Japan's bullet trains. When trains entered tunnels at high speed, they created sonic booms that disturbed people living nearby. As both an engineer and bird-watching enthusiast, Eiji made a unique connection. He observed kingfishers diving from air into water with barely a splash and wondered if their beak shape might hold the key to reducing air pressure when trains entered tunnels. Through careful observation of nature, Eiji and his team redesigned the front of the train to mimic a kingfisher's beak. The results were remarkable: air pressure reduced by 30 percent, electricity use decreased by 15 percent, and speed increased by 10 percent - all while eliminating the tunnel boom problem. "I tell all our younger engineers to carefully observe nature," Eiji says. "I myself have learned a lot from watching birds." Sometimes seeing for yourself means examining problems at the most detailed level. When Denise Coogan at Subaru of Indiana was tasked with achieving zero landfill status for their massive manufacturing plant, she and her team literally started by dumping trash containers on the floor and sorting through the contents. By looking closely at what was being discarded, they discovered countless opportunities to reduce, reuse, and recycle. This painstaking observation led them to find new uses for everything from steel scraps to food waste, ultimately eliminating all 15 tons of daily waste that had previously gone to landfills. The practice of seeing for yourself activates a unique form of intelligence that cannot be accessed through abstract thinking alone. When we look with purpose and curiosity, we discover possibilities hidden in plain sight. Our research showed that people who actively look for ways to make improvements are 17.1 times more likely to feel passion for their work than those who don't. Seeing isn't just about gathering information - it's about developing the vision to recognize what others have missed.

Chapter 4: Talk to Your Outer Circle: Gathering Unexpected Ideas

When you hear the word "mosquito," what immediately comes to mind? Perhaps buzzing, itching, or insect repellent. Now consider "plastic bags" - shopping, recycling, or environmental concerns might arise. Most people would never connect these two concepts. Yet during a trip to Kenya, a visitor learned from a local orphanage director that discarded plastic bags collect rainwater and become breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes - a connection that transforms how we think about litter in developing nations. This simple example illustrates the power of conversations to generate new ideas. Novel thinking emerges when our knowledge collides with someone else's perspective, creating connections we wouldn't make on our own. Our research found that in 72 out of 100 instances of great work, people talked to individuals outside their regular circle about their projects. According to brain science, this process mirrors how our minds naturally work. Our brains consist of billions of neurons in constant conversation, forming neural pathways that become more efficient with repeated use. While these established pathways help us function efficiently, they can also become mental ruts that limit innovation. Conversations with people outside our usual network introduce new neural connections - what sociologist Arthur Koestler called "bisociation," the blending of unrelated pathways into new meaning. Studies show that while we speak about 16,000 words daily, roughly 80 percent of this communication happens with just 5 to 10 people in our inner circle. These trusted confidants understand us and support us, but they often think like we do. For fresh perspectives, we need to reach beyond this comfortable group to our "outer circle" - people we don't normally discuss work with. Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, revolutionized his field by understanding this principle. Unlike most conductors who maintain absolute authority, Zander places blank "white sheets" on musicians' stands before rehearsals, inviting their observations and ideas. "The white sheets give me insights I could never otherwise gain," he explains. "My power as conductor is not diminished by any means. It is enhanced, as is the power of every musician." The benefits of connecting with our outer circle extend beyond gathering ideas. When Jessica and Matt were inspired to create a platform connecting lenders with entrepreneurs in developing countries, they engaged in conversations with everyone from rural business owners in East Africa to SEC regulators and legal experts. Each conversation shaped and refined their vision for Kiva.org, which has now facilitated nearly $300 million in loans to over 700,000 entrepreneurs worldwide. These outer-circle conversations provide multiple advantages: they generate original ideas, offer proxy perspectives of end users, highlight potential problems, contribute specialized expertise, confirm when we're onto something worthwhile, build supportive communities around our efforts, and clarify our purpose. Our research showed that talking to people outside our usual circle makes us 245 percent more likely to get others excited about our work and 337 percent more likely to affect financial results. The beauty of this approach is its accessibility. A simple question like "Can I run something past you and get your thoughts?" can open doors to insights we'd never discover alone. When our conversation is about making a difference, we have license to talk to anyone - and the resulting connections often lead to our most impactful work.

Chapter 5: Improve the Mix: Refining Ideas Until Everything Fits

Once we've gathered ideas through asking, seeing, and talking with others, we face a crucial question: how do we transform these raw materials into something people will love? Difference makers excel at this process of "improving the mix" - thoughtfully adding, removing, and recombining elements until everything fits together perfectly. Our prefrontal cortex allows us to mentally simulate different possibilities before trying them in real life. This ability to imagine improvements is what Walt Disney Studios formalized in the 1930s by creating storyboards - visual sequences that allowed animators to test storylines before the expensive animation process began. Today, virtually every profession has methods for working with ideas: architects use blueprints, managers use whiteboards, engineers use diagrams, and designers use prototypes. The essential practice is to play with possibilities before executing them. Our Forbes Insights survey revealed that improving the mix is a factor in 84 percent of all instances of great work. This process typically involves three simple but powerful instruments of change: adding something new, removing something unnecessary, and checking how well everything works together. Sometimes a simple addition creates remarkable value. When a Boy Scout troop needed to increase fundraising beyond their annual breakfast event, the committee members asked what people might love. After considering and rejecting several ideas, someone suggested adding a vintage car show to the breakfast. The combination clicked immediately - boys, dads, food, and cars created natural synergy. This simple addition quadrupled the fundraiser's revenue from $1,100 to over $4,000. In other cases, removing elements makes the biggest difference. James Dyson transformed vacuum cleaners by eliminating the bag that caused loss of suction. After observing how cyclones separated dust in woodworking shops, he created a cardboard prototype of a bagless vacuum. "Within about an hour and a half, I was pushing around the world's first vacuum cleaner that doesn't lose suction," he explained. Though it took 5,000 more prototypes to perfect, the fundamental improvement came from removing rather than adding. The most crucial skill in improving the mix is checking for fit - ensuring all elements work together harmoniously. Miguel Medialdea demonstrated this at Veta La Palma, a fish farm in Spain. When tasked with increasing fish production, Miguel didn't follow the industry's conventional approach of packing more fish into ponds and using antibiotics. Instead, he reimagined the entire ecosystem, flooding additional acreage to give fish more space and introducing natural food chains with shrimp, plants, and even birds. His colleagues initially thought he was crazy. Build nests to attract predators to a fish farm? Use more land to produce fewer fish? But Miguel understood relationships - how each element affected the others. The result was the world's first truly sustainable fish farm, producing healthier, better-tasting fish while purifying river water and restoring bird populations. When chef Dan Barber asked how Miguel knew so much about fish, he replied: "Fish? I didn't know anything about fish. I'm an expert in relationships." This skill of finding harmony in the mix becomes evident when three signs appear: chain reactions (one idea leads to another), doability (the solution feels feasible and worthwhile), and passion (the concept generates genuine excitement). When Nike partnered with Apple to create Nike+, connecting running shoes with iPods, the initial product sparked hundreds of additional ideas - from personal coaching to global competitions - that revolutionized the running experience and gained Nike 10 points of market share. Improving the mix isn't about finding a single perfect solution but about thoughtfully shaping possibilities until they create a difference people will love. Anyone can practice this skill, experimenting with different combinations until everything just fits.

Chapter 6: Deliver the Difference: Making Your Work Matter

A baseball umpire named Bill Klem was once asked whether a pitch was a ball or a strike after he paused before making his call. Klem responded, "Sonny, it ain't nothing 'till I call it." This philosophy captures a profound truth about great work: until someone experiences and appreciates our efforts, the difference we hope to make remains unrealized. Our research revealed that difference makers aren't satisfied with merely completing tasks. While good work is considered done when the assignment is finished, great work isn't complete until a difference is actually made. In an astounding 9 out of 10 instances of award-winning work, employees stayed engaged and involved until they knew their efforts had made a meaningful impact. Tina, a school photographer, exemplifies this commitment to delivering a difference. While many photographers might treat school picture day as an assembly line process - get 'em in, get 'em out - Tina remains determined to capture each child's unique personality. When photographing at a school for autistic students, she encountered Josh, a young man whose constant movement made getting a usable photo extremely difficult. Though she could have given up after a few attempts, Tina kept shooting until she captured one perfect moment when Josh looked directly into the camera. When Josh's mother saw the photo, she began to cry. "I have never been able to get a picture of my son that showed him the way I see him," she explained. "Every year we hang his school picture up in the hallway next to my other children's photos, and every year it's a bad picture. But it's his, so it needs to be there. You have no idea what you have done for us today." By persisting until she delivered a difference that mattered, Tina transformed a routine task into something meaningful. Sometimes delivering a difference requires adapting when our initial ideas don't work out. When Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger created an app called Burbn to help users share their location, they discovered people weren't using it as intended. Instead of location check-ins, users were primarily interested in the photo-sharing feature. Rather than forcing their original concept, Kevin and Mike listened to what people actually loved and pivoted completely, creating Instagram - which grew to 50 million users in just two years before being acquired by Facebook for $1 billion. Their adaptability demonstrates what Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck calls a "growth mindset" - the belief that abilities can be developed through effort rather than being fixed traits. People with a growth mindset view setbacks as opportunities to learn rather than evidence of failure. When confronted with a task, they don't ask "Am I good at this?" but rather "Can I learn to do this?" Other times, delivering a difference involves persistent refinement over time. When a team at O.C. Tanner set out to improve the success rate of welds on recognition pins from 64 percent to 98 percent, they made a series of small discoveries. First, they found that adding water to the back of each emblem improved success rates to 80 percent. Then they discovered that spreading the water evenly pushed results to 90 percent. Adding dish soap to reduce beading improved results further, and eventually, after several more refinements, they achieved a 99 percent success rate. The team leader, Mike, observed that "most improvements are not grandiose or showstopping. They are small, incremental changes that add up to a bigger solution." Each small success energized the team to find the next improvement, creating momentum toward their goal. Perhaps the most inspiring aspect of delivering differences is how our work can inspire others. In 1965, Sherm Poppen attached two skis together to create a "Snurfer" - a standing sled that his daughters could ride on snow. What began as a father's simple attempt to entertain his children on Christmas Day eventually inspired Jake Burton Carpenter and others to develop the modern snowboard, creating an entire industry and Olympic sport. This ripple effect reminds us that when we deliver differences people love, our impact often extends far beyond what we could have imagined. By staying engaged until we've made a meaningful difference, we not only create value for others but also develop the sensitivity and skill to do even greater work in the future.

Summary

Throughout these pages, we've witnessed ordinary people making extraordinary differences by shifting their mindset and applying specific skills. From Skip Hults revitalizing a dying school with international students to Eiji Nakatsu solving train noise problems by observing kingfishers, these difference makers demonstrate that great work isn't about position or title - it's about how we approach our daily responsibilities and opportunities. The pattern becomes clear: Great work begins when we reframe our role from task-completer to difference-maker. It develops as we ask what people might truly love, see possibilities for ourselves, gather unexpected ideas through conversations, and thoughtfully refine our approach until everything fits. Finally, it culminates when we remain engaged until a meaningful difference is actually made and appreciated by others. As Todd Skinner, the renowned rock climber, reminds us: "The improvement you need to reach the summit can only be gained on your way to the summit." The invitation is simple but profound: Get on the wall. Start where you are with what you have. You don't need to know all the answers before beginning - you simply need to take the first step. Whether your difference-making journey involves teaching children, designing products, providing services, or solving problems, the skills of asking, seeing, talking, improving, and delivering will guide your path. The world needs your unique perspective and contribution. Because when ordinary people commit to making differences that others love, extraordinary things become possible.

About Author

Loading...

David Sturt

David Sturt is an Executive Vice President of the O.C. Tanner Company. His career began in market research, where he studied and analyzed the effects of people being recognized for great work. In the two decades since, he has researched and developed several multi-million dollar services that engage employees, inspire above and beyond contribution, and reward outstanding results in organizations around the world. He regularly consults with Fortune 1000 company leaders and speaks at conferences across the U.S., Canada, and the UK. He has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, Human Capital, and other media outlets.

Read more