THE STORY
The first time I went to Mulligans’ Pub in Dublin – a legal drinking facility since 1782, but serving locals for over 300 years – I was on a two-week golfing trip (well, some golfing and lots of ‘pubbing’) around Ireland. It was 1997 and I was with 28 of Aussie friends – a self-organised trip.
In December last year, we took our grown-up kids to Dublin so my son could have a drink of ‘real Guinness’ with his Dad in a ‘real’ Irish pub – and of course, Mulligan’s was on our ‘Loch Pub Tour of Dublin’.
Whilst there we tried to purchase one of those ‘Pubs of Dublin’ posters to take home but when the lovely Lorraine behind the bar checked for us they had run out. She promised to order more and send us a couple of the posters and took our Australian postal address, refusing to take any money for the poster or postage.
Now… did I really think she might actually do send us a poster? Maybe – because that’s what I would do and that’s a pretty Irish thing to do. But really. No expectations.
We gave it no more thought, until recently when my son’s friend texted him from the Guinness Factory in Dublin, and we fleetingly thought – oh year, remember we wanted a Mulligans’ poster. No shift in expectations.
Two weeks later (6 months after being there) a poster tube turned up with a lovely long letter explaining and apologising for the delay. The resident barman – who we are pretty sure served our son is first Irish Guinness – had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away not long after we were there, and only now were they getting around to doing a bit of an attic cleanup – and she found one poster. And she remembered. And she sent it to us, promising to order more and send another. Wow! We were blown away and felt very special. A ‘little thing’ with a big impact.
THE POINT
What does that do for the human brain! We feel ‘connected’ to her, we want to go back, we want to tell everyone that story, we want to tell them ‘You HAVE to go to Mulligans Pub if you are in Dublin!!’
Trust, connection, unwavering support, motivation to elevate …
In my programs we talk about how important the little things are when it comes to humans. Stephen Covey – author of ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ suggests that when it comes to productivity – the ‘big rocks’ matter. Do the big stuff first and the rest will take care of itself. Great advice – for productivity.
For humans, the little things matter – yet we don’t give enough value and focus to them.
WHAT CAN I DO?
Even if you are not working in Education, we all know it’s the start of the ‘final term’ or the last calendar quarter for the year. The home run.
What are the little things you can commit to or start to do between now and Christmas that might make a difference? They might be little things for you – turning off socials for a break, noticing your reactions and aiming to stay calm, that 10 minute walk each day adding an extra 5 each day.
Little things for others: noticing, asking, being curious, checking in …
Over the next few week’s I’ll be posting more about small ‘gifts’ you can also be giving to others that will help promote trust, build relationships and connect your teams that might be useful.
Until then … focus on the little things and notice the big shifts and payoffs.
Michelle. 🙂
