Think Big, Act Small: How Great Leaders Amplify Ideas

Welcome back to the second article in this series. A couple of years ago, I released the Get It Done™ Methodology - the modern equivalent of American business professor Jim Collins' Good to Great philosophy. It covers the three pillars required for great leadership today: The Right Mindset, The Right Actions, and the Right Environment. Last week, I explored why today's leaders need to move beyond a growth mindset into embracing an Entrepreneurial Mindset. Today, we'll explore the second pillar: The Right Actions.

Why Big Ideas Struggle to Take Off

Society thrives on big, bold ideas. Think about how far we have come through the discovery of fire or the invention of the printing press. In more recent times, digital technology such as the internet and smartphones have transformed the way we live, work, play, and learn. So you would think that we would be more receptive to new ideas and improvements within our organisations. Sadly, this is not the case for many companies.

If you've ever heard phrases like, "We've always done it this way," or "That idea won't work here," you're witnessing an organisation that has conditioned its people to follow prescribed instructions with very little room for creativity, let alone continuous improvement and innovation. Worst of all, this leads to employees feeling like they aren't being fully engaged at work. The latest statistics from Gallup confirm this stark reality. 

Only 23% of the global workforce is actively engaged at work. Worse, 62% are disengaged, and 15% are actively disengaged, meaning they are sabotaging the efforts of other employees. But what if there was a way to boost employee engagement as well as create an environment where big ideas could begin to flourish? 

The Power of Everyday Innovation: Think Big, Act Small

As a Business Strategist and Global Keynote Speaker, I've had the opportunity to work with companies of all shapes and sizes, from multinational corporations to small local business associations. The key differentiator between high-performing companies and those struggling to stay relevant is that successful leaders think big but act small. These leaders have big picture visions and goals for their companies, but they obsess over small incremental changes that lead to massive breakthroughs over time.

Take Jeff Bezos, for example. He had a vision of building the world's largest online retailer, but he didn't start with that. He began by selling books online, refining logistics, and understanding customer behavior before gradually expanding into different categories. His small, iterative actions paved the way for what Amazon is today.

Similarly, Indra Nooyi transformed PepsiCo into a visionary company by focusing on small but strategic initiatives. She didn't overhaul the company overnight. Instead, she introduced Performance with Purpose, gradually shifting the product portfolio toward healthier choices, sustainability, and innovation. Her ability to work within an established organisation and build value incrementally turned PepsiCo into a global leader in conscious capitalism.

Contrast these success stories with John DeLorean, founder of the DeLorean Motor Company. His ambitious vision and bold actions led to the creation of the iconic DMC-12 (the car made popular by the Back to the Future movies), but the hype he created around his vision couldn't withstand the realities of the business world. A combination of production delays, quality control issues, poor market timing, legal troubles, and economic challenges ultimately led to the failure of his company.

As you can see, there is power in thinking big and acting small to ensure great ideas are nurtured into reality. Here’s the thing though. Great Leaders don't just generate ideas themselves. They ensure others are able to amplify their ideas as well. A powerful way to do this is by activating business creativity throughout the organisation. And for that we come to the second pillar of the Get It Done Methodology™ - Heart Centered Innovation™.

Heart Centered Innovation™: The Engine for Organisational Creativity

Redefining "Heart" in Business

Some old-school personalities might equate the word Heart with warm, fuzzy, feel-good sentiments that have no place in a hardcore, results-driven organisation. To those people, I say: Hold up! Suspend your skepticism for a moment and consider what a heart actually does.

It is the hardest-working muscle in the human body, pumping anywhere between 5 to 35 liters of blood per minute to ensure the rest of the organs function effectively. There's nothing fluffy about that. It's an engine that never stops. What we're talking about here is building an innovation engine within your organisation that constantly works to drive results.

The Four Pillars of Heart Centered Innovation™

The Heart Centered Innovation™ Model helps leaders and teams activate a culture of innovation and apply creativity at scale. The four pillars are based on instinctive human behaviors, making it easy to implement real change. Think of a challenge you want to solve, and then pop that into the centre of the model over the heart and then work through each of the pillars. 

1. The Care Pillar: Creating Emotive Alignment

The model begins with Care, because if people don't care, nothing happens anywhere. Empathy alone is no longer enough. Customers want to know organisations care about them, and employees want to feel valued. Given the context of your challenge, do people care about it? If not, what do they care about instead? How can you connect your challenge to something they already value?

2. The Commit Pillar: Moving from Involvement to Investment

Once people Care, the next step is to get them to Commit. Many employees are only involved, not committed. The difference is the story of ham and eggs. The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. Leaders must create an environment where people are fully invested in achieving an outcome otherwise people just don’t care. And if people don’t care, nothing happens anywhere.

3. The Create Pillar: Developing Solutions with Purpose

After establishing Care and Commitment, it's time to Create solutions. Many organisations rush into problem-solving without ensuring the first two pillars are in place, resulting in poorly thought-out solutions that struggle to get implemented. Ensuring success with the first two pillars guarantees that the solution is well thought out and effective. 

4. The Connect Pillar: Amplifying Through Strategic Storytelling

The final pillar ensures that whatever is created is Connected to others in a meaningful way. This is achieved through strategic storytelling. When you tell the right story in the right way, people naturally feel connected and want to make the idea a reality.

Practical Application: Diagnosing Organisational Challenges

The model can also be used as a diagnostic tool. If the challenge is talent attraction, the focus might be Care and Connect, asking, "How can we improve the stories we share about our organisation to attract the right talent?" If the challenge is increasing revenue, the focus might be Create and Connect, asking, "What can we create for our channel partners to help them sell more, and how can we craft compelling stories for them to share?"

When the four pillars come together, leaders can amplify ideas in a way that transforms their organisation, their industry, and even the world. The secret? Think Big, Act Small.

The Fearless Girl: A Small Act with a Big Impact

One of the most striking examples of Heart Centered Innovation™ in action is the Fearless Girl statue. Commissioned by State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) in 2017 to promote gender diversity and women in leadership, this small bronze figure of a young girl standing defiantly in front of Wall Street’s Charging Bull became an instant global icon.

Though only a statue, the message it conveyed was powerful. It wasn’t about corporate policy changes or sweeping reforms. Instead, it was a bold yet simple act that sparked a much-needed conversation about the role of women in leadership. The placement of the statue challenged deep-rooted assumptions in corporate culture, demonstrating that even a symbolic act can inspire widespread transformation.

At the start of this article you can see the statue next to one of my favourite Entrepreneurs, Sara Blakely - the founder of Spanx and now Sneex. The photo is from Sara's Instagram and if you look at her original post, you'll see a fantastic story about her visit to the statue.

This is exactly what Heart Centered Innovation™ is about: a big picture vision brought to reality by small, meaningful actions that resonate deeply and create ripple effects throughout an organisation, or in this case, the wider society.

The Leadership Imperative: From Ideas to Impact

As we navigate an increasingly complex business landscape, the leaders who will thrive are not those with the grandest visions or the most dramatic transformation plans. The true difference-makers are those who can translate bold thinking into methodical execution through the power of small, deliberate actions - and empower their people to do the same.

The Heart Centered Innovation™ framework provides a blueprint for this translation - moving from aspiration to implementation in a way that engages your entire organisation. By cultivating care, fostering commitment, encouraging creation, and facilitating connection, you build more than just an innovation program; you develop an organisational heartbeat that powers continuous improvement and breakthrough thinking.

Today's leaders stand at a critical inflection point. Will you perpetuate the command-and-control approaches of the past, or will you embrace the Think Big, Act Small philosophy that has propelled companies like Amazon and PepsiCo to extraordinary heights?

The choice is yours, but remember: transformation doesn't require organisational upheaval. It starts with understanding what your people care about, securing their commitment through meaningful involvement, creating solutions that address real needs, and connecting those solutions to the broader organisational narrative. Begin with one small change today, and watch as the ripple effects transform your organisation tomorrow.

If you found value in this article, please share it with fellow leaders who might benefit from these insights. Together, we can build organisations where innovation thrives and people feel truly engaged in their work.

📷: i Source: https://www.instagram.com/sarablakely/p/CMPW8CeAIRv/

About the Author

AJ Kulatunga is a Business Strategist and Global Keynote Speaker on Business Creativity. To learn more about his quest to support leaders to make tomorrow better than today, please visit https://AJKulatunga.com