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Importance of Small Wins
By James J. Rhatigan, WSU Senior Vice President Emeritus
Karl Weick, a professor at the University of Michigan, introduced in a 1984 article the idea of small wins in organizational theory, in our ordinary days at work. Through my years here at Wichita State, I’ve come to see the great importance of small wins, in the workplace and in our personal lives.
Weick says that a small win is a concrete, complete, implemented act. By itself it may seem relatively unimportant. But a series of such small wins can help reduce the feeling that issues are so complex as to render us incapable of solving them. He points out that social issues like poverty, pollution, congestion and crime seem overwhelming to those assigned to address them, but that successful efforts in these areas occur when they are recast into smaller components, resulting in opportunities that people feel they can handle or ameliorate, if not manage completely. These opportunities can produce positive results, with cumulative outcomes far greater than the individual small wins that generated them.
I believe that the heart of our work in higher education centers on the idea of small wins. Small wins are not a matter of decoration but a matter of structure, an integral part of work. They fit perfectly into larger strategies because they are understandable and doable. Let me offer an example: Back in the fall of 2001, I had a conversation with Josephine Fugate, who was the dean of women when I came to Wichita State as dean of students in 1965. Dean Fugate had just turned 97 the day we talked
at her home in Wichita. During our conversation, the name of a former student came up, someone she had once assisted.
The student, a member of the football team, was injured one fall and Dean Fugate, knowing he was a long way from his family, visited him in the hospital and tutored him in math while he recovered. He passed his math course – a small win. This would be a good anecdote if it ended at that point. But it doesn’t. The student came into my office periodically and on one visit was discouraged about his job prospects. He was discovering that a young man of color with a major in sociology was not particularly in high demand in the eyes of employers. Learning about this, Dean Fugate called her son at IBM and asked if there were opportunities the student might pursue. Indeed, IBM was interested in liberal arts graduates. This telephone call was the second small win. And, yes, the student landed the interview, got the job and went on to success. I believe that the story of individual achievement this student rightly can claim as his own was aided by these two small wins.
Those two small wins were not connected deliberately or consciously. They were part of a structure in which caring for students was a value. They were a part of a whole, a view of work, a way of responding. We are not always privileged to know the consequences of our acts, but we should be attentive to the posibilities they present. Small wins can produce results that are electrifying, life-changing. Whatever our circumstances, there is much that we can do. Our small efforts can produce good outcomes.
Dr. Rhatigan has fostered the education of literally thousands of Wichita State students. Among his collection of memorabilia is a small bronze statue given to him by Mike James ’71, former SGA president. The statue’s inscription reads in part, “The Student’s Best Friend — Always.”
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