THE EVERYDAY<br>SIDE TO<br>TRANSFORMATION
Every moment. Every conversation. Every connection. A manifesto for massive impact.
From the Big Mac to big brands to big data and everything in between (including Australia’s unreasonable obsession with big attractions†), bigger is often seen as better.
We pursue lofty dreams and idolise influencers with vast numbers of followers. We aspire to more recognition and greater impact. And we tend to approach change with a similar mindset.
When thinking about large-scale transformation, it’s easy to assume it requires monumental actions and events — groundbreaking ideas, earth-shaking revelations, life-changing annual summits and ‘radical disruption’.
Really, though, transformation begins in the everyday.
Change happens in the daily conversations and interactions. Countless moments occurring over hours, days, weeks, months, years and careers. In these often-overlooked moments are opportunities to transform lives, organisations, and industries.
This is a belief so firmly entrenched in our company’s ethos, it inspired our own change narrative and brand manifesto.
Our name, Everyday Massive, distills the idea into two juxtaposed words. To facilitate massive transformation, we (quite perversely) need to focus on the everyday —
every moment,
every connection,
and every conversation.
Every moment
Every moment — every point of contact, interaction, and piece of communication, regardless of the medium or channel — is an opportunity. It’s a chance to bring people together, work together, surprise and delight, inspire, learn, change, and improve.
Which is… quite the potential.
This doesn’t mean we need to make absolutely every moment perfect. That would be a noble, yet futile pursuit! But because our memory of an experience is an average of the peak and end, every moment — even the most mundane — has the potential for massive impact.
By turning the everyday momentous, we can dramatically transform peoples’ experiences.
Every conversation
Whether it’s in-person; via email; or a Slack, WhatsApp or text message — every conversation can be transactional, or a chance to build
a relationship.
Good conversations happen when we ask questions rather than lead with statements, bring curiosity and empathy rather than judgement, and listen at least as much as we talk. Get these things right — we build trust and connection. And when we do that,
it’s not surprising we also tend to work together better as well.
Every connection
Organisations are built on countless connections. There’s the connection between leaders and their teams, people and initiatives,
people and knowledge, people and the organisation, and people with each other.
Each of these connections matter, not unlike an electrical circuit. If even a single connection degrades, the whole system can fail. Conversely, by strengthening individual connections — the overall output improves.
As social isolation becomes more prevalent, meaningful connections are more important now than ever before.
These three considerations change our perspective towards the typical business challenges:
How do we improve engagement?
How do we shift culture?
How do we improve safety?
Such lofty ambitions can seem daunting, until we begin breaking them down into smaller experiences:
How do people experience a typical day at work?
How do they experience programs?
How do they experience communication?
How do they experience learning?
In turn, each of these experiences is simply a series of moments, conversations, and connections strung together. These add up to shape the employee experience.
At Everyday Massive, we transform the employee experience through human connection. It’s a process that collides art with science, weaving the fascinations of human behaviour with design. We thrill to the opportunity to help leaders transform the way people experience work. And ultimately, change the way people remember and retell the story of their day, week, year or career.
† When I started writing this piece, I thought it might be fun to list all the big attractions in Australia. It turns out there are a lot. More than a lot. More than is reasonable for any country to have, in fact. But if you feel like sacrificing a bunch of childhood memories, and, I don’t know, actual knowledge, in favour of knowing every big thing in Australia? Well, here you go:
<Takes deep breath> We have: The Big Mushroom, The Big Owl, The Big Galah, the Big Ant, the Big Avocado, The Big Axe, The Big Ayers Rock (yes, someone actually constructed a smaller Uluru and called it 'The Big Ayers Rock'), The Big Bench, The Big Bogan (my personal favourite), The Big Blue Heeler, The Big Bowl, The Big Banana, The Big Bunch of Bananas (good one, Coffs Harbour), The Big Beer Can (because Australia, obviously), The Big Bull, The Big Bicycle, The Big Cheese, The Big Cherry, The Big Chook (two of them), The Big Gold Panner, The Big Gold Pick and Pan, The Big Golden Guitar, The Big Knight, The Big Hammer, The Big Headphones, The Big Kookaburra, The Big Lamb, The Big Merino, The Big Miner's Lamp, The Big Mosquito, The Big Murray Cod, The Big Oyster, The Big Playable Guitar, Ploddy the Dinosaur, The Big Peg, The Big Potato, The Big Poo (😏), The Big Prawn, The Big Rabbit Trap, The Big Rocket, The Big Rubik's Cube, The Big Slurpee, The Big Soldier, The Big Spider (shudder), The World's Biggest Sundial, The Big Swan, The Big Tennis Racquet, The Big Trout (two of them, because one wasn't enough, apparently), The Big Turtle, The Big Ugg Boots, The Big Windmill, The Big Wine Bottle, The Big Wine Cask (budget version of The Big Wine Bottle 🤔), The Biggest Smallest Town (seems a stretch), The Big Boxing Crocodile, The Big Aboriginal Hunter, The Big Jumping Crocodile — yes, we're in the NT now — The Big Stockwhip, The Big Stubbie, The Big Dinosaur, The BIG Fish (this one is CAPITALISED, guys, so you know it's BIG), The Big Apple (times two), Banana the Bullock, The Big Banana (another one), The Big Kronosaurus, The Big Barrel, The Big Barramundi (two of those), The Big Bolt and Nut, The Big Boomerangs, The Big Boot/Shoe, The Big Brolga, The Big Brolgas and Snake, The Big Bulls, The Big Cane Toad, The Big Captain Cook, The Big Cassowary, The Big Cockatoo, The Big (Mud) Crab, The Big Crab, The Big Crocodile (another three of them), The Big Deck Chair, The Big Dinosaur (I think we've had a few of these, but I can't be bothered checking), The Big Dugong, The Big Easel, The Big G, The Big Golf Ball, The Big Golden Gumboot, The Big Gun, The Big Hard Rock Guitar, The Big Macadamia Nut, The Big Mandarin, The Big Mango, The Big Map of Australia, The Big Marlin, The Big Meat Ant (apparently commissioned to attract 'thousands of tourists' — mmmyes), The Big Melon, The Big Merino, The Big Miner, The Big Mower, The Big Ned Kelly, The Big Orange (two of those), The Big Paperclip, The Big Peanut, The Big Pelican (whose beak must hold a LOT), The Big Pick Shovel and Sieve, The Big Pie, The Big Pineapple (two, I believe), The Big Pumpkin (also two of ‘em), The Big Red Elephant, The Big Redback, The Big Rig, The Big Rum Bottle, The Big Sapphire, The Big Sapphire Ring, The Big Sausage King, The Big Scout Hat, The Big Shell, The Big Spanner, The Big Strawberry, The Big Stubby (again?), The Big Teepee, The Big Thermometer — this list was without a doubt, the worst idea I've ever had — The Big Watermelon, The Big Whale, William the Wombat (who is big, despite it not being in the name), The Big Farmer, The Big Ant (number two, or three? I can't remember), The Big Bee, The Big Bob-tail Lizard, The Big Cherries, The Big Church Block Bottle (I am a BIG fan of this wine), The Big Cockroach, The Big Dice, The Big Galah (this one has one 'l'), The Big Hat, The Big Kangaroo, The Big Lobster — I REFUSE TO PROOF CHECK THIS PARAGRAPH, YOU CANNOT MAKE ME — The Big Olive, The Big Orange, The Big Pelican (I think this is another one, BUT WHO WOULD KNOW), Another Big Pelican (THIS IS THE ACTUAL NAME), The Big Ram, The Big Rocking Horse, The Big Santa, The Big Scotsman, The Big Teddy Bear, The Big Winch, The Big Windmill (IS THIS A SICK JOKE — HOW MANY BIG WINDMILLS DO WE NEED? ALSO: THEY’RE BIG ALREADY SO THE ‘BIG’ IS REDUNDANT), The Big Wombat, The Big Yabby, The Big Apple, The Big Cherry (AGAIN), The Big Coffee Pot, The Big Penguin, The Big Platypus, The Big Rock Lobster, The Big Slide Rule, The Big Spud, The Big Tasmanian Devil, The Big Thumbs up (👍😬), The Big Wickets, The Big Abalone, The Big Apple (yes, another one), The Big Lizzie, The Big Apple (you must be KIDDING ME), The Big Cherry (help pls, I'm stuck in some weird loop and I can't get out), The Big Cigar, The Big Coffee Maker, The Big Cows, The Big Dead Fish, FIDO (please don't ask), The Big Golf Ball (the second), The Big Hens, The Big Koala, The Giant Koala (certainly appears larger than afore-mentioned Big Koala), The Big Lizard (SRSLY, HELP PLS), The Big Mallee Bull, The Big Mallee Fowl, The Big Mallee Root — WHAT IS GOING ON? — The Big Miner, The Big Ned Kelly (yes, again), The Giant Murray Cod (haven’t we already had one of these?), The Big Cherry (I wish I could tell you I'm joking, but no, another one), The Big Ned Kelly (there is no escape), The Big Pheasant, The World's Largest Rolling Pin (why?) — why not? — The Big Smoke (how my mother-in-law describes the Gold Coast, fyi), The Big Strawberry (another one), The Big Tap (original at least), The Big Wave, The Big Wine Bottle (again), The Big Wool Bales, The Giant Worm, The Public Purse, The Giant Pocket Watch, The Big Apple (real original, WA), The Big Banana (just leave it to Coffs Harbour, mate), The World's Tallest Bin, Bert Bolle Barometer, The Nannup Clock Tower, The Big Bobtail, The Big Camera, The Cow on The Corner, The Big Crocodile — look, at this stage I'm just writing them down, I don't even care how many big crocodiles we have anymore, tbh — The Big Lobster (ditto), The Big Marron (🤷♂️), The Big Mushroom, The Big Orange, The Big Prawn, The Giant Ram, Leeuwin Way Whale, King Neptune, aaaaaaaand The Big Wheelbarrow. Hold me. 😢