There’s a great book by Sam Parker and Mac Anderson called 212°: The Extra Degree, that my friend Eric Elliott turned me onto earlier this year. 212° is the temperature at which water boils. Just one degree less, at 211°, and hot water is just that: hot water. But at 212°, hot water turns into steam, and steam—as Parker and Anderson point out—powers machines that enhance productivity.

I loved this analogy when I first heard it because it aligns so well with our work at Mission Partners. We often talk about how in communications and life, the little things are the big things. If you’re not clued into the little things, then you could easily miss out on moments for transformative impact. 

The “212° mindset” was on my mind not too long ago, while supporting an executive who had concerns over how her team was communicating. She talked about the volume of information that needed to be shared across the team, but that the most critical information felt muddled, it lacked focus, and it was limiting her team’s overall effectiveness.

I remember the conversation clearly: She was feeling the heat, but not quite any steam.

So, we talked about how the flow, cadence, and structure of information is important—sometimes even more important than the words themselves— and that by pulling back on some of the information, her team might be able to say much more. Over the course of the next few months, we worked to prove it: by slowly introducing tools, templates, systems, and strategies to improve the flow of information in this global nonprofit.

Little changes, degrees of difference really and the messages that once felt muddled now feel more aligned and effective.

Small changes. Big impact.

Whether finding a degree of improvement in how your team communicates or in how your work gets done, sometimes it takes turning up the heat just a notch to produce transformational change.

Bottom line: The little things will always be the big things. Find the places where you can apply little changes to your work—an extra degree of improvement in how you communicate, for instance—to move from hot to steaming. I bet you’ll find that you too, have the power to produce extraordinary results. 

This is week 37 of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights direct to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.